Stay Right Here, Rocketeer
by rhymeswithblue
Summary: Bella is also a little more than human and Edward comes dangerously close to spontaneous combustion, on multiple occasions.
1. a haon

stay right here, rocketeer  
><em>chapter one<em>

She arrived on a monotonous Monday morning, completely unsuspecting—harmless, even—and then proceeded to mindfuck us all into oblivion.

It started during lunch of the said monotonous Monday morning. I was walking through the lunch line picking out the food I wanted to pretend to eat today. Sure, a bagel sounded fun. After I paid, I made my way to our table. Everyone else was already there; Emmett and Rosalie sat to the left, Alice and Jasper in the middle, the last chair empty for me. The plastic chair squeaked as I sat down. They didn't even look up.

I hated it when they did that. Nothing sucks more than being subtly acknowledged as the fifth wheel.

Nearby, a table of sophomore boys made obnoxious primal noises as they attempted to throw meatballs into each other's mouths.

_Why do we have to tolerate these immature, low-minded fools? _Rosalie thought. I shot her a look, but hey, the girl has a point. I hate to be arrogant and think us as superior to these humans, but we are.

Another table to our left had too many people crammed on too few chairs, a huddle of gossip. As if this microscopic town had anything remotely juicy to even qualify as gossip in the first place. Naturally, they were talking about _her_.

"Dude, have you seen the new chick?"

"She's so pretty."

"And she's from Phoenix."

"She used to live in a desert!"

I chuckled under my breath. These people who had spent their whole lives in the snowy town of Forks seem to have a false notion of what Phoenix, Arizona looked like. No, actually, Isabella did not live in a teepee in the middle of the Sonoran Desert next to a cactus. That's just absurd.

"What was her name again?"

"Isabella Swan. Apparently Chief Swan has a daughter?"

"Hey, isn't she over there talking to Jessica Stanley?"

My eyes searched the cafeteria and quickly spotted Jessica. I glanced over to the girl next to her and finally set eyes on the famous Isabella Swan for the first time. After seeing her face in all the students' minds the whole day, hearing their thoughts drone on and on, _Isabella, Isabella, Isabella_, you would think I'd be familiar with her brown curls and pretty eyes. But those people's thoughts didn't do her justice.

My eyes widened at the sight of her. To human eyes, she was simply extravagantly gorgeous. It takes the eyesight of a vampire to spot the difference. Because Isabella Swan was not just another girl who got lucky genetics and ended up with cover-girl beauty. No, it was like the rest of the cafeteria was in black and white while Isabella was the only soul in color. That's how extraordinarily vibrant she was. She demanded my attention, yet upon closer inspection, I couldn't exactly pinpoint why that is. Her clothes weren't any different that everyone else's, she had normal features, her skin doesn't give off an eerie glow, and she behaved like a regular teenager.

So why does she outshine all the others?

(Let the mindfuckery begin.)

_Holy…_ Emmett thought as he followed Isabella with his eyes.

_What the hell? Is everyone seeing this? _Jasper wondered.

"So I'm not the only one who's noticed," I whispered, too low for any human ears to hear. As if under a spell, we all watched Isabella sit down beside Jessica and eat her lunch, occasionally talking with the other people at the table.

Something about the pale skin, the wide eyes, the high cheekbones…something about her was registering far different from the other people in the room. And I could not figure out what that was.

"She looks…" Rosalie trailed off because she also couldn't say what Isabella looked like. Even Alice sat with a blank stare as she went through everything she can remember the past, present, and future. I suppressed a chuckle; for the first time, Alice didn't have the answer.

_I give up, _Emmett thought. _That girl is different but I don't know why. I just know that I've never seen anyone like her before._

This Isabella Swan, this new fancy of Forks High, this supernatural beauty, was way more foreign than your average Arizonan, that's for sure.

At the mention of the word "Cullens" I snapped out of my frantic mental contemplation and focused in on Jessica Stanley, sitting across the cafeteria, who was now explaining to Isabella all about my family. Pretending to be interested on the overhead lunch menu, I watched the conversation with my peripherals.

As Jessica continued her rant about my brothers and sisters, I saw Isabella's eyebrows rise slightly and her eyes squint slightly. She was scrutinizing our lunch table, trying to figure us out just like we were trying to figure her out. The corners of my mouth upturned into a grin. Oh the parallel irony.

"That's Edward…"

When my name left Jessica's lips, Isabella turned to stare straight at me. To avoid being caught watching her in full-stalker-mode, I went back to playing with the food in front of me. What did she think about me, I wondered. Focusing in that direction I searched for her inner thoughts…

…and nothing.

I could not hear her thoughts no matter how I tried. Jessica, Angela, Eric, Tyler, Mike, their thoughts I could hear loud and clear. But Isabella, sitting right next to them, remained absolutely silent. What is this blasphemy.

"I can't hear her thoughts," I muttered. Everyone glanced at me in surprise.

"I didn't see her coming," Alice whispered. "And I can't see any of her future."

Then we all glanced at Jasper. He waited for Jessica to finish speaking, and right before Isabella opened her mouth to reply, he sent a wave of cold indifference into the cafeteria. Immediately, everyone stopped talking. Except Isabella.

"Aren't they…" she stopped abruptly, but only because she was glancing around the lunch room, confused why everyone had gone silent at the same time.

Jasper alleviated the mood and the chatter continued. The pause was only long enough to be passed off as one of those awkward moments. However, judging from the grave looks shared at our table, this was definitely much more serious than some silly awkward silence.

We have just encountered someone who was immune to all our powers.

* * *

><p>After some debate, we decided it would be safe to finish the school day before we consulted Carlisle about this peculiarity. I walked to Biology, sat down at my usual spot and thought about Isabella.<p>

She was undeniably gorgeous, but not vampire gorgeous. Her skin was white, but not the lifeless marble color of vampires. She _shined _in the most subtle way. She wasn't susceptible to Alice's, Jasper's, or my powers. She looked like a normal teenage girl in every sense, but she just wasn't. My mind was doing somersaults trying to decipher these strange clues when who enters the classroom but the aforementioned enigma, Isabella Swan.

She stood at the front of the room, talking with the teacher. In closer proximity, I examined her appearance again. Shiny, chestnut colored hair that flowed to her waist, a green long-sleeve, v-neck sweater, dark skinny jeans, and brown faux-leather boots. She was nothing out of the ordinary, but she was everything out of the ordinary.

Why was she so illogical.

Somewhere between Mr. Banner telling her to sit in the only empty seat (next to me) and her turning around to walk towards me, I was struck with such an awfully strong scent that I _coughed_. I actually coughed. Vampires don't cough; our body system deems trivial matters like coughing and sneezing unnecessary. Yet I'm certain I've never smelled anything as strong as that.

The scent stung my nose and my lungs. As the smell intensified, the stinging was so strong that my head began to feel pain—a headache, something else vampires never have. This horrible nausea continued to escalate until it covered the aroma of all my human classmate's blood, until I was completely blinded and confounded in every sense. Like, I was seriously concerned I would spontaneously combust and it would not be pretty.

"Hello," Isabella said softly as she sat down in the chair beside me.

It wasn't until she set her book bag on the floor and tossed her hair in front of her shoulder did I understand that _she _was the cause the overbearing scent.

Well, she sure gives 'stunning' a new meaning.

She looked at me strangely since I still hadn't responded. And I was probably making a really interesting facial expression at the moment.

"Hi," I choked out. The right side of my body, the side closest to her, was beginning to burn from being so close to her. I wondered what kind of perfume this girl wears. It's god awful.

Class proceeded in a painfully slow fashion. I normally don't pay attention anyway, but today, I was physically incapable of forming logical sentences in my head, much less recalling the stages of mitosis. Even if I held my breath, the scent attacked every inch of my body. I had to look down and check periodically to ensure my body was not, in fact, in flames.

Thankfully, about fifteen minutes into the lesson, the stinging turned into a numbness of nose, throat, and basically everywhere else. When my body finally adjusted to the forceful impact of the odor, it was much more bearable. The smell was still horrendous and made me want to gag (yet another human reflex I haven't experienced in decades) but I discovered that underneath the powerful stench is a soft, gentle, extremely appealing aroma. Something like sweet pea.

And thus, I was faced with another contradiction. How could such a repulsive smell and such a delightful smell coexist?

I was still taking random inhales and trying to process how these two extremes could be mixed when all the students broke into conversations. Apparently Mr. Banner ended class five minutes early and we were allowed to talk amongst ourselves.

Isabella turned to face me. Shit, she wanted to talk to me. The tip of my nose began to sting again.

"I'm Edward," I said to be polite. My voice was slightly strained to keep the disgust out of my voice. I hope she didn't notice. "And you're Isabella."

"Call me Bella," she said. "Isabella sounds so…formal."

"Okay, _Bella_. But you are not allowed to call me Eddie." It amazed me that I couldn't hear her thoughts. I've forgotten what it's like to hold a normal conversation with someone without hearing what they are going to say before they say it.

She laughed and it was a tinkling laugh. A laugh that if she laughed enough, I'm sure she could bring world peace and end world hunger. How can everything about Bella be so charming except she reeked like no other?

Then, I caught sight of her necklace, a pendant with a bright red gem attached to a gold chain. It looked antique and didn't seem to match her clothes at all, but somehow it tied her outfit together. By then, I had already given up trying to solve her endless contradictions.

"That's a nice necklace," I commented.

Her hand went up to touch the gem and she smiled, "Thanks." I saw her teeth for a fraction of a second, but it was enough to notice the perfectly straight lines of teeth with incisors slightly longer and slightly wider apart than a normal person. Maybe she just had a unique dental structure. Or maybe she's an extraterrestrial.

"Where did you get it?" I asked, pointing at the necklace. "It looks old. Did you inherit it?"

"Well yes, actually I—" Sudden alarm flashed through her eyes, then terror, then full-outrage. Her clear brown eyes darkened as she glared at me.

I only stared questioningly back. Did I offend her somehow?

Her face was starting to flush red from her anger. It sent a wave of that terrible scent again and I realized it was her _blood _that smelled so paradoxically sickening and attractive at the same time. Then I noticed she had six freckles, three on each corner of her eye. And I couldn't believe my eyes, but as she grew madder, as her face turned redder, those tan freckles turned a dark purple color. I questioned my sanity, because this couldn't be happening.

The bell rang and Bella was the first one out. Her speedy exit created a breeze of her remnant scent, and I was left utterly senseless.

Bella Swan was a lot of things, a walking contradiction. Although I could not describe or justify any of her oddities, of one thing I was now certain. She's not human.

* * *

><p><strong>post script: <strong>hey guys :) so, i wrote this entire story last november for nanowrimo (nationalnovelwritingmonth) but then i decided i didn't like it, so i never posted it onto fanfiction. then, this past summer, i reread the story and decided i do like it after all, so now i will be posting it! lol, i'm so fickle.

basically, this story will be a different take on the twilight storyline. i know the whole "what if bella wasn't human" plot has been done, but if you're reading this right now, that means you finished the whole first chapter, so it must have intrigued you somewhat, right? besides, i bet you can't guess what bella is. i'd love to hear your theories.


	2. dó

stay right here, rocketeer  
><em>chapter two <em>

"She isn't affected by any of our powers!" Alice said.

"She looks different," Emmett said. "I can't explain it, she just _is_."

"And her blood smells revolting," I said. "Terrible and terrific, simultaneously."

We were seated around the dining room table explaining to Carlisle and Esme our findings regarding the potentially nonhuman, freak of nature, mindfuck supreme, Bella Swan. With Carlisle sitting at the head of the table and the rest of us engaged in conversation, this was one of the only times we have ever used this mahogany piece of furniture.

Carlisle held up his hands to halt our ramblings and speculations regarding Bella. "I'm sure there is some explanation for Isabella's oddity. I have known Charlie for a long time and I can assure you that Charlie is 100% human. There is no way his daughter is any different."

"But she is not normal," Rosalie argued. "I know we sound crazy, but if you had seen her, you would understand. She doesn't appear strikingly unusual. There is this strange aura about her, though, that puts her apart from the rest."

"Don't you think Charlie would know if he had some strange creature as a daughter?" Carlisle reasoned. He wasn't buying this at all.

"Well Charlie doesn't exactly know what we are either," Jasper replied. "Perhaps he's just very nice to everyone, human or nonhuman alike."

Esme spoke for the first time, "You mean, there are actually other creatures out there?"

She did have a point. Besides werewolves, we have never encountered any other species of mythological creatures. Vampires have walked amongst humanity for millennia and werewolves are our sworn enemy. Other fairytale creatures are exactly that: fairytales. There can't possibly be truth behind every once-upon-a-time.

"In all my three hundred years, I have never learned of the existence of any other creatures. Of course, I was curious. I thought, if vampires were real, then surely wizards and elves and zombies must be real too. My research never amounted to anything and I soon gave up on that subject. They're all make-believe characters. Either that, or they're much better at hiding than we are," Carlisle stated. He sounded undoubtedly certain, yet for a second, I saw a glimpse of an old, worn book with a golden border in Carlisle's mind before he focused on the conversation again.

"So…Isabella won't be a threat to us?" Jasper asked.

Alice giggled. "I guess we are just being silly. So our powers don't work on Isabella. It's not the end of the world."

"Precisely." Carlisle nodded and stood up, signaling the end of the conversation. "Isabella is not a mermaid or a centaur or a witch. She is just a teenage girl."

"Bella," I corrected.

Everyone looked at me.

"She likes to be called Bella," I explained.

After that, the subject was dropped and we left the dining room feeling quite foolish indeed about ourselves. Alice stared at me inquisitively as I headed upstairs to my room.

"'Bella. She likes to be called Bella.' What was that, Edward?"she asked.

"It's true," I said. "She does like to be called Bella. She told me."

Alice's right eyebrow flew up. _Is that so? _In her mind, she imagined Bella and me walking down the school hallways hand in hand, laughing for the world to see..

I rolled my eyes and walked passed her, purposely bumping her shoulder. "God Alice, so I mention one girl's name and you think I have a crush on her? What next, are you going to start planning our wedding?"

"OOOH! Can I?" Her eyes widened to the size of watermelons, she batted her thick eyelashes, and her lower lip curled into the puppy-face pout of doom.

"You're unbelievable, Alice. You're like the annoying little sister I never had," I complained.

She sprinted ahead of me and blocked my path. She tilted her head and smiled maniacally. "Oh but, Edward, I _am _the annoying little sister you never had."

* * *

><p>I know I was just a little anxious for school the next day. Checking the thoughts around me as my siblings exited the car, I was glad that I wasn't the only one. After Carlisle shot us down yesterday evening, making our outlandish exclamations sound like pure nonsense, we were all wishing for a second look at Bella. Were we mistaken? Could she really just be another girl, who happened to have intense body odor?<p>

The hours passed, eventually. I walked to the cafeteria in a breakneck pace and found myself scanning the entire lunch room before sitting down next to Alice.

"Don't strain yourself, she's not here yet," Alice said, looking at me in that cryptic _I know what's going on_ way.

I just shook my head because she was being ridiculous again. Ridiculous Alice and her ridiculous speculation on nonexistent romantic feelings towards stinky girls.

"Is Bella in any of your classes before lunch?" Emmett asked.

We all shook our heads no.

"The only one who even has a class with her is Edward," Alice announced, giving me a smirk.

"Oh yeah," Jasper smiled, jumping on board Alice's ridiculous train, "that's how he knows she likes to be called Bella, remember?"

Now Rosalie, Emmett, Jasper, and Alice were all staring at me with mocking smiles. _Edward and Bella sitting in a tree…_

I groaned and put my elbows on the table, resting my head in my hands. "I don't like Bella. I've only known her for one day! It's not like we could form any relationship anyway, since being around her makes my nose sting like no other and I feel like I'm burning. And vampires and humans can't possibly be together because that would—"

"We KNOW," Emmett interrupted and laughed. "We're just teasing you. Lighten up, _bro_."

Alice leaned forward until her face was a few inches from mine. "But why are you so nervous and tense, Edward? Could it be that you actually _do _like Bella?"

They all snickered and I sat back in my chair, not amused. Sure, pick on the single guy. That's fair.

"I am never sharing anything with you guys ever again," I deadpanned. They roared with laughter.

In the meantime, I watched Jessica and Angela take a seat and immediately join in on Mike and Eric's debate. Bella's chair remained empty.

"Where's Bella?" Mike asked.

"I don't know, she wasn't here this morning," Jessica said.

Rosalie, Emmett, Jasper, and Alice collectively sighed, slouching in their seats. They could mock me all they want, but I heard their thoughts. They were just as disappointed as I was that the fascinating kinda-more-than-human girl was absent.

* * *

><p>A day's absence was perfectly normal. Two days were understandable. When Bella still didn't show up on the third day, I began to worry. I had no reason to, of course, because there could be a rational explanation to her prolonged absence. She got sick; she wasn't used to the cold. She only came that one day to test out Forks High and now she was back in Phoenix to pack the last of her bags and move here officially. Or she absolutely detested Forks and ran back home the first chance she could and I will never see her again.<p>

Still, all those explanations seemed much more plausible than my hypothesis. Although it seemed irrelevant at the time, as I sat in Biology and stared at the empty seat beside me, I started to wonder if Bella's ditching school had anything to do with the emotional outburst at the end of class on Monday. I vividly remember pointing out her necklace and asking her about it, and then suddenly she's glaring at me like I had murdered her family.

Why did she get so upset? What is so special about the pendant? Why did her freckles turn purple?

Who is Bella Swan?

* * *

><p>The weekend was dull, although I had no reason to expect otherwise. Alice and Jasper were making out in their room so I moved down the hall to escape all the gooey, lovey thoughts they were emitting. As I passed Carlisle's office, I glanced in the open doorway to see him sitting at his desk, deep in thought.<p>

His thoughts were mainly comprised of short sentence fragments in a language I wasn't familiar with. I believe it was Scottish or perhaps Welsh. His train of thoughts was going too fast for me to translate the words into understandable English. Then that image of the old book with golden borders came up again, just like that night we were talking about Bella.

"Carlisle?" I called softly.

He looked up, unaware of my presence. "Yes Edward?" He knew that I knew something was up.

I implored him with my eyes, wondering what it was the he was hiding from us.

_Please to don't pry, Edward._

Reluctantly, I nodded and walked downstairs. Carlisle was hiding a secret. But I trusted him . Whatever he had in confidentiality must be important and he would share with the rest of us when the time was appropriate.

What ancient texts and Scottish had to do with anything, I had not a clue.

* * *

><p>The second I pulled into the parking spot next Monday morning, Alice turned to me from the passenger seat and exclaimed excitedly, "Bella's back!"<p>

"I thought you couldn't see her in your visions," I said.

Alice only pointed out the window. To my surprise, there was Bella in all her glory, hopping out of her old red truck. She closed the door, locked the car, pulled her navy blue scarf closer, and began her trek indoors.

"What are you still doing sitting there, Romeo?" Jasper said. "Go after her!"

I glowered at him through the rearview mirror. We all gathered up our bags and exited my Volvo.

Rosalie's laugh sounded crisp in the cold air. "Don't be absurd now, Jasper. Edward doesn't want to look desperate."

Glad that I was still the butt of their childish joke, I walked away towards my first class as the first snowflakes drifted down from the sky. In the distance, I watched Bella open the door to her classroom and enter it. And as I breathed in the fresh winter air, I could vaguely smell traces of her nauseating and floral scent.

* * *

><p>I was one of the first students in Biology, as usual. The few others in the class were all riled up because it was snowing outside. Everyone was talking about forming teams, choosing the best hideout, and plotting to become the snow fight champions of the day. This is all certainly juvenile, but hey, I like a good snow ball fight too.<p>

The smell of Bella entered the room long before she did. Since I braced myself for it this time, the initial attack of my olfactory sense was not as brutal as last week. I inhaled deeply and let the burning sensation travel from my nose to my throat, down my neck, and spread throughout my body. I figured if I got over the pain sooner, I could act more civil and less anguished around Bella.

When she finally stepped into the classroom, the scent quadrupled in strength and I willed myself to be numbed by the pain. She stared at me and hesitated for a moment before slowly approaching our table. I meekly nodded towards her, my head swimming in the atrocious yet beautiful smell, and I was quite unable to form a coherent sentence.

She sat down and fixed her scarf tighter around her neck.

The bell rang and Mr. Banner began class, telling us something about a microscope lab and identifying the cycles of mitosis in onion cells. Although, at the time, I wasn't processing any words that left Mr. Banner's mouth; Bella's proximity was hazardously intoxicating. My mind was all hazy and only one thought ran through my mind: THIS HURTS THIS HURTS THIS HURTS MAKE IT STOP.

Only after Mr. Banner set us off to begin on the labs did I finally adjust to Bella's stench. My mind cleared and I quickly read Mike Newton's thoughts to clue myself in on what we were supposed to do. I intended to grab the microscope and put the slide on the stage, but I discovered my arms couldn't exactly, well, _move_. My muscles had become anesthetized from Bella's presence too. I was disadvantageously immobilized. Fantastic.

Maybe I was imagining it, but I thought I saw a small grin form on Bella's face as she set up the microscope and peered down the lens.

"Anaphase." She hadn't looked at the slide for a full second before she correctly identified it. My eyes could see the slide from here perfectly, but how did she possibly analyze the onion cell that quickly?

"Mind if I check?" I asked. Thank god my voice didn't hint how distressed I was by cracking like a pubescent boy.

She turned and gave me a sassy look, freckles sparkling, but pushed the microscope towards me nonetheless. I reached for it, my right arm moving at an embarrassingly slow pace. Then, my half-numb pinky made the gargantuan mistake of accidently brushing against hers. The microsecond our skin made contact, the entire right side of my body flared up in unbelievable, excruciating pain. The throbbing was 100 times worse than the comparatively minute ache her scent caused. Just sitting next to her was already hard for me to handle. But Bella's touch could give Jane from the Volturi a run for her money.

Stifling my dying urge to scream out in pain, I immediately withdrew my hand, desperately hoping I could run outside and bury myself in the fresh snow or something. I was burning, on brink of explosion.

"Did you want to look?" Bella asked. She was either completely oblivious to my inner agony or mocking me by her indifferent tone.

I shook my head. "No, actually, I think I'll take your word for it," I managed to choke out.

For the rest of the lab, Bella worked the microscope, calling out the correct phase names much too quickly while I wrote them down on the paper. Once, I thought she called the name before her eyes even hit the lens.

We were easily the first group finished. Everyone else was still debating number 3. Mr. Banner made his way over to us. He checked our work, clearly impressed that we identified them all correctly.

"Have you done this lab before, Ms. Swan?" he asked.

"Yeah, I have," she answered sheepishly.

"I see. Well, I guess you two have the rest of the period to yourselves then," he said.

A whole, uninterrupted twenty minutes with Bella Swan.

Kill me now.

She adjusted a piece of her hair and I was hit by another wave of her stench. But on the bright side, the right side of my body was starting to recover from that tiny touch. I made up mind then and there that I would talk to Mr. Banner and make him switch my seat. Anyone, _anyone_, made for a better lab partner than Bella. Let her be with Mike, he likes the girl. Just give me a normal person to sit next to so I won't have to endure this torture every day, please.

"So…" Bella said, fixing her eyes on me.

"Where were you last week?" I asked. If we had to talk, I might as well get some questions answered. Since her mind was blocked from mine, I had to get my answers the hard way.

"I, uh, got sick. I wasn't used to the cold," she said. Her freckles darkened.

I called her bluff. "Well that must suck for you."

"What?"

"You moved to the town with the most rainfall in the continental US."

She stared out the window. "Yeah. I hate rain. And snow. And water in general."

"Why?"

She lowered her voice yet I still heard every word. "…it reminds me of my failure."

Failure? What failure involves water? She doesn't know how to swim? Can this girl get a little more cryptic, please?

Just as I was about to question her, she changed the subject, "So I guess my dad knows your dad?"

I nodded. "Yes. Charlie and Carlisle are great friends."

The indifferent façade she's had this whole time was forgotten as her eyes brightened with interest. "You call your dad by his first name too?"

"All my brothers and sisters do. It's easier, since we were adopted at an older age. And besides, Carlisle and Esme are quite young, they would feel old if we referred to them as Mom and Dad. Why do you call your father Charlie?"

"Well, I never knew him. I've lived with my mother all my life and Charlie is as much a stranger to me as you are."

Ever since Bella arrived, people have been retelling the mystery of Charlie's infamous scandal seventeen years ago that resulted in Bella. No one knew what happened to Bella's mom, or why Bella suddenly came here to Forks in the first place. "Why are you living with Charlie now?"

Suddenly aware that this conversation was diving deep into a topic she was uncomfortable with, she stopped talking. Her eyes clouded over and her emotionless mask was put back on.

We sat in silence for a few minutes. The class around us continued in their lab. Outside, I heard the patter of the down falling rain.

"If it makes you feel any better, it's raining outside which will probably wash away the snow, which means you won't be caught in the most epic snowball fight of Forks High history," I said.

She continued to blankly stare straight ahead. But she smiled.

The bell rang and everyone scrambled to finish their lab and put away the equipment. After I gathered my bag, I turned to find Bella standing and gazing at me, her eyes not glaring or feigning indifference, but in wonder.

"You're not that bad, Edward," she said. It was a compliment, I guess, but it also rang of an underhand criticism since she implied she expected me to be bad.

I watched her raise her hand, form a fist, and reach for me. With sheer terror, I realized she was going for a knuckle bump. I should have booked it out of there while I had the chance. Now I'm stuck because I can't leave her hanging, that's not gentleman-like.

Wincing before I even touched her, I gently tapped my knuckles against hers, drawing back after the slightest contact. My whole arm erupted in pain.

She turned on her heels and walked off. "See you tomorrow."

* * *

><p><strong>post script: <strong>thanks for reading, guys. i swear the story gets better, i have lots of exciting stuff planned out. next chapter up soon!


	3. trí

stay right here, rocketeer  
><em>chapter three<em>

After the unbearable pain Bella inflicted on me during Biology, I went home, rather sore and rather pathetic, and decided to talk to Carlisle about it. He still insisted she was a human, but I pointed out that no human can touch a vampire and make him want to scream for bloody mercy.

In the end, the argument went nowhere. Carlisle was convinced Bella is as normal as can be, I was convinced she most definitely was not, and everyone else in the family can agree that there was something fishy about Bella Swan.

"So when you touched her, it was like your body was on fire?" Rosalie asked skeptically, later that evening.

"If you don't believe me, why don't you give her a hug tomorrow and see for yourself?" I retorted. I swear the tips of my fingers still haven't recovered their feelings completely.

"Why do you think Carlisle is so stubborn about it?" Emmett questioned. "He's always been open-minded before."

The image of the old book with golden borders can to my mind again. Carlisle thought about that mysterious book more and more these days, yet he refuses to clue us in. He's never hidden anything from us before, so what constitutes this sudden secrecy?

* * *

><p>The next morning, there was a solid layer of ice on the parking lot, causing much anxiety to the teenage drivers around me. Meanwhile, I expertly swerved into our usual parking spot with ease. (It doesn't hurt to be ostentatious every now and then, you know.)<p>

"What are you going to do about Bella, then?" Alice asked after we exited the car, leaning against the side of the Volvo beside me.

"Ask Mr. Banner to change my seat. If that doesn't work, I'm going to the office and getting my schedule changed."

"No, I meant, what are you going to do about _Bella_?" she repeated. _How can you two ever be together if her touch makes you want to crawl into a hole and die?_

I gave her a look. "Really, Alice? You still haven't let that go? Maybe the joke was funny the first time but…"

Her bronze eyes focused in on mine, a look of genuine concern. _But it's not a joke, Edward. You really do love her._

"It's like you said, how could I possibly be in love with a girl who will be the slow and agonizing death of me?"

"She's the only one whose thoughts you can't read. She's the only one who can make you feel pain. She's the only one who is able to make you feel remotely human again." _You love her. I know._

Even though Alice has never been wrong in the past, I was willing to bet my left limb that she could not be more wrong about this.

A big red truck pulled into the lot. After parking a few rows away, Bella exited her historic vehicle. She was dressed in a black t-shirt, a brown jacket, dark skinny jeans, Ugg boots, and a forest green scarf. Such a harmless appearance.

"Is she..." Alice listened in Bella's direction, "…is she listening to Backseat Goodbye?"

Bella was currently waving at Angela and Eric a few cars down and listening to her iPod. And sure enough, blasting through her headphones was none other than my favorite song from my favorite band of the week.

"Well isn't that adorable? Both of you enjoy the same weird, country hipster music." Alice beamed as if Bella and me sharing the same taste in indie music was an almighty reason we were destined to be together forever.

Which it's not.

Nevertheless, at least the girl knows good music.

_Most days, I hate the rain.  
>Sometimes I don't.<br>It's a damn shame that you still hate change,  
>One day you'll learn everything everywhere is all the same<br>With your eyes closed._

"LOOK OUT!"

Everyone turned at the shriek from the other end of the parking lot. A van had pulled in about five miles per hour too fast. It swerved and no amount of turning the steering wheel or pumping the brakes could stop it. Many people ran out of the way and saved their own sorry lives. The van continued to spin, and it was tragedy on a Wednesday morning, waiting to happen.

The angle of the car and the speed it was sliding…I did the calculations in my head. That would leave the van launching right in Bella's direction.

Oh dear God.

Not. Her.

Bella had missed this commotion since she was listening to her iPod. Jessica Stanley frantically yelled her name which finally made Bella turn around and notice her impending doom. All the students in the parking lot held their breath as they watched the scene unfold, helplessly unable to prevent it. But _I_ could.

_Don't do it, Edward! _Alice warned. _This could end badly._

But Alice didn't know for sure, because she didn't see the outcome, because she can't see Bella in her visions. I decided to take the risk. Sprinting towards Bella, too fast for any human to see, I hoped I could save her without revealing my vampire nature and, more difficult yet, without touching Bella.

As the van got closer and closer, I realized Bella wasn't squeezing her eyes shut in fear. Or trying to move out of the way. Or screaming. Or any other rational response to seeing a swerving van coming fast in your direction. Instead, her eyebrows were scrunched in concentration and her hands were in front of her, doing a weird, jazz fingers twisting doorknobs gesture. Her lips were moving at a rapid pace, chanting nonsensical words. "_Oighear oighear cabhraim mé teacht chun solais_."

I stared at her incredulously. A van is about to crush her into a puddle of mush and she's standing at ease doing some odd ritual? Reason number 7 billion Bella Swan is not normal.

My left foot stepped off the sidewalk. I prepared to launch myself between Bella and Tyler's van because Bella is not allowed to die. Not before she answers my questions. And because she might be the only person in this dreary town who would listen to Backseat Goodbye with me.

But suddenly, the ice right in front of Bella seemed to melt and as the front wheels of the van hit the puddle, it spun more to the left, missing Bella and her truck altogether. In its new course down the parking lot, the van amazingly came to a stop right in the middle of three empty parking spaces, harming…absolutely no one.

The entire parking lot was silent. What the hell just happened?

Then everyone erupted in cheers at the miracle. They all rushed towards Tyler Crowley to ensure his well-being. I took a few more steps to slow my momentum. That put me right next to Bella. Surprisingly, the stinging I get from being close to her wasn't so bad out in the cold air.

I stared at the puddle that formed right before my eyes. That puddle was not there, Bella performed her strange hand dance chant, and then the ice melted and the van was conveniently sent hurtling into a safe direction. I shifted my gaze to Bella, who wore a grin ear to ear and was bursting with elation.

"How did you do that?" I asked.

Apparently she wasn't aware of my presence so at the sound of my voice, she jumped back in shock and hit her head on the door of her car.

"…ouch."

I chuckled. "So you phenomenally saved yourself from certain disaster but you end up injuring yourself out of clumsiness."

"That wasn't clumsiness. That was being startled because you snuck up on me without warning," she replied, rubbing the back of her head. "Wait, how did you even get here?"

"Um, I have legs," I stated.

"No, you were standing all the way over there with your family. How did you get here next to me so fast?"

Oh shit. She noticed.

"You hit your head, Bella. I was always standing next to you." I didn't sound very convincing, if I say so myself.

Her eyes narrowed. "Liar."

"Hey, don't go changing the subject. I asked you first."

"Asked me what?"

"How did you do that? How did you make the car turn away?"

Alarm flashed quickly through her eyes before she faked a look of disbelief. "What do you mean I made the car turn away? The car missed me by an inch. I'm the luckiest girl alive."

I narrowed my eyes to mock her previous actions. "Liar."

We both stood our ground, staring at each other. Obviously she didn't know what she got herself into because vampires always win staring contests.

"You melted the ice and moved the car," I said in all seriousness.

"You ran here faster than humanly possible," she replied in a deadpan voice.

"Oh Bella! Are you alright?" Jessica and Angela ran towards Bella and our conversation ended for the moment.

As I walked away I looked over my shoulder once more. Bella was still reassuring everyone that she was fine. She caught my eye and gave me a one-eyebrow-raised, this-conversation-is-not-over look before returning her attention to her friends. I turned back and headed to my first class.

I know what I saw. The van did not spontaneously decide to shift its inertia and slide in a new direction. Bella did that.

* * *

><p>I forced myself to enter the cafeteria, buy my food, and sit down before I even glanced at Bella. She was, as expected, blatantly glaring back. I couldn't read her thoughts, but I'm getting better at guessing what she might be thinking. In this case, she was mentally saying something along the lines of <em>I know what I saw, idiot.<em>

I did my best to come up with an expression that said _Right back at 'cha. _

"I told you not to do it, Edward," Alice said in singsong.

"What were you thinking?" Rosalie scolded. "If the van had hit Bella—"

"If the van had hit her, I would have saved her," I said.

"No, you would have put all of us in jeopardy," Rosalie said. She leaned back and crossed her arms. "I'd rather you not blow our secret. I'm finally a senior now. I don't want to move again."

"I'm sorry, Rose," I replied. "I didn't realize this was all about you."

Jasper hissed and I felt myself relax. Rosalie appeared to too.

I sighed. "I'm just frustrated with Bella. She makes no sense."

"Maybe it really was a coincidence and all luck," Emmett quipped.

I shook my head and looked in Bella's direction once more. She was still staring a hole in my head. "You don't understand. I saw what I saw." I had explained the events of the van and the ice to my brothers and sisters before first period, but they all seemed skeptical.

"Come on guys. The clues all add up," I said.

"To what?" Rosalie asked. "What is your conclusion, Edward? That she's a witch?"

I looked from Rosalie to Emmett to Jasper to Alice to the table to the window to the wall to Bella back to Rosalie.

"I don't know."

"I think Bella wants you," Jasper said, nodding towards Bella's table.

I whipped my head in that direction to see that Bella had stood up. She moved her head towards the door and I reluctantly followed.

Outside, the clouds were thick and grey, giving the entire town of Forks a dark, gloomy shade. The wind had picked up again and Bella wrapped her jacket tight around her. She walked ten paces before stopping abruptly and turning to face me. I stayed a safe distance away.

"Why did you run to me this morning?" she asked. Her eyes looked grey in the light.

"Bella, I—"

"I didn't ask whether or not you ran all the way over to me," she interrupted. "I know you were standing by your car on the other side of the parking lot and then less than a second later you were by my side. I know, Edward. I just want to know _why_."

She spoke with such conviction, I was certain that she already knew what I was. What my whole family was. And that scared me.

"Did you push the van at me? Did you run over to make sure I was crushed?" she asked in harsh whisper.

My eyes widened at her accusations. "Are you insane? Why on earth would I want to do that? I would never try to hurt you, Bella."

She seemed shocked at my response, which in turn shocked me. What did she think I was?

"Then why did you run over?" she asked again. A breeze whipped passed us. With one hand fastening her hair and the other holding her scarf in place, she shivered in her boots. According to Alice, it was going to be cold later today with a small drizzle and Bella already looked half-way to an icicle.

I shrugged off my grey jacket and handed it to her. She stared at it like I was handing her a poisonous snake. I grinned and tossed the jacket at her; she caught it with a cautious glance.

"Did you ever think that maybe I ran over so I could save you?" I asked. With that, I turned and walked back inside, pretty positive that I left her shivering speechless.

By the time I made it to the table, the bell had already rung. I picked up my bag and was about to head for Biology when Alice grabbed my arm and stopped me. "Where's your jacket, Edward?"

My eyes flicked over to Bella—adorned in my jacket—who was now entering the cafeteria quite baffled indeed. Alice followed my glance and squealed into my ear. She was so loud with uncalled for excitement that Jasper had to put a hand over her mouth and half-drag her to their next class.

* * *

><p>A few seconds after I sat down in my seat did Bella enter, slightly out of breath. She usually didn't get here for another few minutes. Seeing her in my jacket was quite amusing. It was far too large on her, the ends going almost to her knees. The sleeves were so long that only the tips of her fingers showed through. Still, there was certain feeling I got knowing my jacket was now on her body.<p>

Oh. And it probably smelled like her too. I was not looking forward to getting that jacket back, no sir.

She quickly made her way over to me and sat down in the chair beside me. Her eyes were expectant upon me, as if waiting for a response to an unasked question.

"Thanks. For the jacket," she said.

I nodded. "No problem."

"But aren't you cold?" she asked.

I looked down. I was now only wearing a short-sleeved t-shirt made from this fancy cotton blend Rosalie had ordered for me. I guess this wasn't exactly your typical winter attire. "Um, not really."

Her eyes were inquisitive.

There was still two minutes left before class started so I took the opportunity. "Alright, you asked your question, now it's my turn. You still haven't told me how you did that."

"Did what?"

"The puddle thing."

"What puddle thing?"

"Stop it."

"Stop what?"

"Bella."

"Who's Bella?"

I went to glare at her but couldn't help chuckling at her last comment. "Are you going to tell me?"

She looked at me long and hard, trying to analyze every minute facial movement before coming to some conclusion. "You mean, you really don't know?"

"No, I'm only bugging you for my personal amusement and I haven't been obsessed all day trying to figure you out," I exclaimed in deep sarcasm.

She raised her arm to rest her elbow on the lab table and put her head on her hand. She bit her lower lip in contemplation. I watched the freckles at the corner of her eyes twinkle from light to dark. I made a note to myself to ask about that sometime.

"So are you going to tell me or not?" I asked again.

"Nope."

"If I guess correctly will you say so?"

"Nope."

I sighed. This girl was downright stubborn. I was getting nowhere.

She leaned forward and I instinctively leaned back. "But I'd love to hear your theories," she said with a small smile.

I blinked a few times, trying to get over the effect of her face being that close to mine. It was an explosion of that smell I love to hate.

"Um," I said, testing to make sure my cheek muscles hadn't gone numb, "telekinesis?"

"How unoriginal."

"Or a spell? I think you cast a spell or something and then that puddle formed," I said.

Mr. Banner called the class to begin. Bella scooted closer to me, much to my dismay, and whispered, "So what are you saying, Edward? That I'm have _magic_?"

I thought about it. "Yeah?"

She smiled even wider. "Really, now?"

She was right. What was I thinking? There must be a perfectly sensible explanation to everything. There always is

Yet as she turned to head towards the front of the room, her hair flipped and I was once again overwhelmed by her unique stench. It was a punch in the face and reminded me what I was arguing for.

"Hey Bella?" I said, my voice a coarse whisper.

She turned back. "What?"

I allowed myself to regain my composure before speaking again. It seemed the more I was with Bella, the quicker I could overcome each attack of her smell. "I may not know _what _you are, but I do know you're not…like everyone else."

"Yeah?" Her smirk was unmistakable. "Well that makes two of us."

* * *

><p>I ravaged through my CD library, going through every single disc and then going through them all again. I always keep it in alphabetical order by artist name, but the CD in search was nowhere to be found. Thinking I misplaced it the last time I listened to it, I searched everywhere in my wall-length bookshelves. Then I looked in my stereo, then around my semi-clustered room. The last time I listened to it was a few days ago, so it really shouldn't be MIA. Unless…<p>

I dropped the empty cases I was holding and marched right to Alice's room.

She opened the door before I reached her with my CD in hand. "Here you go."

"When did you take this?" I asked. "And why?"

Alice shrugged. "Well, if Bella and I are going to be best friends, I figured I should get to know a little about her, like her favorite music. It gives us some common ground, something to talk about when I meet her."

"Wait…you and Bella are going to be best friends?" I asked. "You can't see any future that involves her, though."

"I didn't see it in a vision, Edward. I just want to be her friend."

Walking back to my room, I was slightly embarrassed that Alice now knew I was frantically looking for this CD. That means she knew why I wanted to listen to it. _The Wonder _by Backseat Goodbye.

I inserted the disc and pressed play on the stereo. I skipped until I was met with soft guitar strumming. "Kilo Riley", the song Bella was listening to this morning when the whole van phenomenon occurred. I still couldn't shake the memory from my mind. It didn't help that I was now the boy who cried wolf since no one else in my family witnessed it.

I sat down on the couch and closed my eyes, letting myself be enveloped by the music. In my mind, I replayed the scene at the parking lot ad nauseum. I remembered it all clearly, there is no room for misunderstanding. The van was going to hit her. She did her weird hand/chant thing. The van did not hit her. The logic was so clear an elephant could see it.

Does that make her a sorceress then? A witch? A water-bender? An alien? I pondered Googling it, but I figured that was useless. When I didn't know an answer, I usually went to Carlisle. Of course, Carlisle is being all secretive in the subject matter of Bella. He knows something, I'm positive, and if only I could figure out what that ancient gold-rimmed book is…

A soft _clack_ from behind woke me from my reverie.

Now, I really must be going insane, because for a second, I thought I saw Bella's face outside my two-story window.


	4. ceathair

stay right here, rocketeer  
><em>chapter four<em>

Two custodians were hanging a gargantuan banner across the gym entrance that read "KEEP ON DANCING 'TIL THE WORLD ENDS: Forks High Sadie Hawkins Dance" in an obnoxious, completely-in-your-face font. It was eight in the morning and the school was already bursting with uncontained excitement. A girls' choice school dance _and _a Britney Spears song as the theme? Oh man, that is just too much to handle, someone call the cops.

"Anything exciting?" Rosalie asked me, gesturing to the students hanging out in the parking lot. She especially liked girls' choice dances because they turn teenage boys into anxiety attacks waiting to happen. She gets some sick pleasure out of their discomfort, I guess.

"Jennifer Fitz is going to ask Willie Hamner," I commentated, giving a Forks High gossip 411. "And Cathy Gaskins and just dying to ask Jeremy Bruce."

"What about Jessica Stanley chick? Is she gonna ask you?" Emmett nudged me with his elbow, accompanied by his signature eyebrow waggle.

I spotted Jessica was standing with her circle of friends, all drinking overpriced coffee in paper cups.

"She was, but then she realized I would only reject her."

"What a smart cookie," Alice added.

"But she is planning on asking Mike Newton," I said. "Oh, but Mike Newton seems to sense it because he is praying Jessica won't ask him since he really wants to go the dance with…"

A certain brunette with a white scarf and purple rain boots walk over to join the circle.

Rosalie and Alice gave each other knowing looks. I had this confusing feeling growing in my gut. It was uncomfortable, unfamiliar, and I didn't like it, not one bit. Jasper leaned over and whispered, "It's called jealousy. You envy Mike Newton."

Now, that's simply outrageous. Of course I'm not _jealous _of Newton Schmewton. But when I saw him give Bella a hug (and the physical contact didn't make him gag or scream or anything), the sickly feeling in my gut magnified and I had to admit, maybe I was just slightly jealous of the kid.

"But don't let Alice know," I muttered back to Jasper. "She'll have a field day."

* * *

><p>By first period, I had learned that both Eric Yorkie and Tyler Crowley were also planning on asking Bella to the dance. Sadly, their names weren't as entertaining to deride as Schmewton.<p>

* * *

><p>"Hi Edward."<p>

I turned around at my locker and pretended I was surprised at seeing Bella there, when in reality, I smelled her approaching eons ago. "Hey Bella."

She looked like she was about to ask me something_—_as one would presume since she did intentionally go out of her way to come to my locker_—_but she stopped short. "Did…did you get contacts?"

"What?"

"Did you get colored contacts or something? Because your eyes used to be golden and now they're black."

Well shit, I just realized I hadn't gone hunting in a while. Being around Bella kind of takes away my appetite, for extended periods of time. And leave it to her to notice subtle differences like my eye color. That sphinx.

"Um, no. My eyes change colors sometimes," I answered and quickly turned back around. Shutting my locker and uttering some incomprehensible goodbye, I bolted to catch up with Alice.

Bella remained in her spot, staring inquisitively at the back of my retreating head. I never did find out what she wanted to ask in the first place.

"You know, if you keep dropping hints like that, she'll figure it out eventually," Alice said with indignation. "The girl isn't stupid."

Ah, but _I_ am.

* * *

><p>Basically, I was faced with not one but two dilemmas, simultaneously. One, I needed to know just what Bella Swan is, because I'm Edward freaking Cullen and I have to know everything and a mystery unsolved will surely drive me to insanity. Second, I had to constantly watch my guard because Bella is trying to deduce me just like I'm trying to deduce her.<p>

It's a game we're playing; figure the other person out before they can figure you out. And so far, I was losing terribly.

It was the last period of the day again, or as I refer to it, Biology Funtime with Bella. She had opened the main door into the science building and the comparatively light scent indicated I had about fifteen seconds before she opens the door to the classroom. I counted down in my mind.

_Why won't Bella ask me? _When the door opened, however, I was shocked to see Bella walk in with none other than Mike Newton hot on her tail. It caused that serpent of envy to rise in me again, no matter how hard I tried to deny its existence.

She hadn't asked him yet, I reassured myself. That must mean she isn't attracted to Newton Schmewton.

Their conversation dallied for a while longer at Newton's desk.

"So Bella, I was thinking…maybe…you want to go to the dance with me?" _Please say yes, please say yes._

"…I thought it was a girls' choice." Zing! I almost laughed. She definitely deserved a high five for that (if the circumstances were to allow me to high five her without combusting, of course.)

Mike started sputtering after Bella's rejection, "I know. I just thought, you know, putting it out there…" _Crap crap crap crap crap._

"Didn't Jessica already ask you?"

"I told her I would think about it."

"Well I think you should tell her yes, because she really wants to go with you. She really likes you Mike."

"She does?" _I guess Jessica is okay. Not as pretty as Bella, but…_

"Yeah. So you shouldn't keep her waiting."

"Alright."

Luckily the bell rang and Bella hurried to her seat by me. I was suffocating in her presence, yet I was strangely content.

"That was harsh," I mumbled to her.

"What?" she whispered back.

"I think you broke Schmewton's heart."

She rolled her eyes at me, obviously not wanting to talk about it. Mr. Banner had begun his lesson and silenced the class. Bella turned her attention to the front of the room.

I took my phone out of my pocket and created a new message. **I'm serious. The poor guy is devastated.**

Bella glanced at the phone in my lap. I pointed to it and mouthed, 'Check your phone.'

Slightly weary, she retrieved her phone from her backpack and read the text with the phone on her lap, hidden from the teacher.

_**how did you get my number?**_

I smiled at her while I texted my reply, **I have my ways.**

_**i am thoroughly creeped out.**_

**But what's going between you and Mike?**

_**nothing. jessica is like in love with him and i'm not gonna be a terrible friend and steal her date. besides, i don't even like him more than a friend.**_

**He likes you. A lot.**

_**wait, how would you know?**_

I hesitated. See, it was so easy to make little slips like this in front of Bella. I might as well just write 'Hi, I'm a mindreading vampire' on my forehead. **Um, it's kind of obvious.**

_**he just likes me because i'm the new girl. in a few weeks, i'll be just another average girl.**_

**Average. Right. Whatever you say, Bella.**

_**why are you asking this anyway?**_

Good question. Why was I texting her in class while sitting beside her? I combed my brain for a believable excuse. **I just never took you for a heartbreaker, that's all.**

_**i'm not a heartbreaker.**_

**So you lead all the boys on for shits and giggles?**

_**i don't lead boys on!**_

**I know at least two other guys are going to ask you to the dance by the end of the day.**

She didn't reply right away. I risked a glance in her direction and she was looking at me in a perplexed, equivocal way. Finally, I heard the clicking of keys as she typed back a response under the table. _**like who?**_

Now, why did she take all that time to mull over my response before asking "like who?" Who did she want to ask her? Did she like somebody? I flared up again and this time, I don't think it had anything to do with the smell. **Well who do you want it to be?**

_**no one. it's a girls' choice.**_

**Then who are you going to ask?**

Once again, she didn't reply for a long time. The silence only acted as confirmation to my previous theory. She most certainly did like someone. I suddenly felt like I was in middle school again and we were playing the never-ending "who do you like" game.

Bella stalled answering for a long time until my phone finally lit up a few minutes later. 1 NEW MESSAGE.

I took a breath, preparing myself for whatever information was to come.

Whoever is in this text, well, his life just might be in danger. Fair warning.

My finger hovered over the READ button. I mean, who could it be? Bella hasn't even talked to most of the guys at Forks High, just Mike and Eric. She already rejected Mike and she never gave Eric the time of day. In fact, the only male she seemed to have possibly flirted with, in the tiniest way, was…

…me.

(I hate it when Alice is right.)

I pressed down on the button. Could it really be me, though? God, it sucked not being able to read her mind. The screen took just a second to load but it was forever to me. The anticipation was almost heavier than Bella's atrociously delightful odor.

What if it really was me? What if she liked me? It would never work, of course, with me being a vampire and her being a whatever-she-is. Her scent repels me like the other side of the magnet and she's given me more glares than smiles. I'm no relationship guru, but those signs don't add up to a healthy couple, right? We can't be together. And, I mean, I don't even like her. That much.

I stared at the tiny pixels. Come on, come on, who is she going to ask to the dance?

_**your mom.**_

Bella let out a giggle at her own joke. I cracked a weak smile, too. If only she knew how worked up she got me.

The rest of the period was spent in full productivity, with Bella and I texting each other about varying topics from favorite birds to our stance on social security. I felt that with each interaction with Bella, she was warming up to me and I was adapting to the physical pain of being with her. She was quirky, opinionated, and witty. She was absolutely fascinating. With each tidbit of personal information she shared, I quickly tried to assemble it into the jigsaw puzzle that is Bella Swan. And because I couldn't access her thoughts, I was obsessed with finding out every little detail of her life. Her thoughts were the only one deprived from me so I yearned for those the most.

Mr. Banner had to exit the room to photocopy some papers and the class burst into conversations. Bella and I put our phones away and spoke face to face. My Bella-adapting skills must be improving since half an hour into class and I was hardly affected by her scent anymore.

"Oh, I have your jacket in my truck. Should I give it back to you after school today?" she said.

If she wore my jacket, does that mean by relation, my jacket will now also be hazardous to touch? I decided not to risk it. "No rush. You can keep it if you want."

"Are you really so rich that you can just give away random articles of clothing?"

I laughed. "No, it's just…" I didn't know how to explain it without telling her that, to me, she stinks worse than an onion in a gym sock in the middle of July. "…I want you to keep it."

"Okay…" She rolled up the sleeves of her jacket and adjusted her scarf.

"So do you own a scarf in every color of the rainbow?" I asked. She had worn a scarf every day for about a week now. I was starting to think it was a Bella thing.

But then her eyes dulled and the freckles by her eyes darkened until they were pitch-black. She positioned her hair so it acted like a wall between the two of us and pulled her white scarf even tighter. The light, friendly atmosphere was gone in an instant and Bella was back to glaring at me like I was her arch enemy. She hadn't gotten this upset since that first day when I pointed out her necklace.

Oh, _wow_.

I can't believe I didn't realize this until now. Ever since she returned to school from her week of absence, she has worn a scarf every day to school. She didn't just wear scarves because she was cold or because she was trying to start a trend. She wore scarves to cover the pendant.

The fact that she took all the effort to conceal the necklace was evidence enough that that pendant was of great worth to her. I had a feeling it had nothing to do with its monetary value either. There was some secrecy about that pendant that was somehow tied in with Bella's "magic", which was somehow tied in with Carlisle's fixation on that old book.

I had all the pieces. I just could not for the life of me assemble the pieces together.

* * *

><p>I paused before the closed door of Carlisle's study. "Come in," he called, hearing my footsteps, and I entered.<p>

"Hello Carlisle," I said. "I wanted to ask you a question."

He nodded curtly for me to continue. His bright yellow eyes gazed at me expectantly, his blonde hair styled the way it has for centuries. This man was my savior, my friend, and my father. I have confided everything in him. Now, I just begged for him to confide in me.

"Have you ever seen this before?" I asked and held up the paper I was holding behind my back. It was a sketch I made of the pendant Bella wore. I drew it from memory of the first day I met her. No colored pencil accurately showed the color of the gem, but the rough drawing was close enough.

Carlisle's reaction to it was unmistakable. His eyes widened and he involuntarily drew in a breath. In his mind, I saw another sketch of the same pendant, only inside a giant, old book, presumably the one with the golden border. It was nearly an exact replica, my drawing and the one in the book.

"You have," I noted. "What is it, Carlisle?"

_How do you know about this? Where have you possibly seen this?_

I shook my head. I wanted my questions answered before I answered his. "What is it, Carlisle?" I repeated.

He hesitated. His mind once again shifted into a ramble of that Gaelic language I didn't understand and seemingly irrelevant images flashed through his mind. He was torn; he didn't want to inform me, yet he coveted to know what I knew about the pendant's whereabouts.

"Is it valuable? Because I know where it is right now," I said. My intentions were to tempt Carlisle into revealing the truth. And it worked.

He stood up from his desk and walked out the room. I followed. "I think the whole family better hear this," he said.

Alice was already waiting for us at the dining room table and soon everyone else joined.

"When I was first turned into a vampire, I spent a lot of my earlier years desperately searching for some way I could kill myself and the monster I had become. When that proved impossible, I turned to an alternative perhaps even more impossible than the first: I searched for the Danann Stone. The Danann Stone is this mythological gem that is powerful enough to turn a vampire back into a human."

"Like in _The Little Vampire_?" Emmett asked.

"That movie was based on the myth of the Danann Stone, yes," Carlisle said. "In fact, according to the myth, you really are supposed to hold it up to a full moon and then you will return to your human state. However, the stone will also disintegrate after use."

"Are there more than one stone?" I asked.

"No, there is only one stone, but vampires who found it have taken bits and pieces of the larger gem. The whole Danann Stone in itself is supposedly very massive."

"Well where is it?" Jasper asked.

"After all my research, I tracked the Danann Stone back to Celtic islands of Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Brittany, Cornwall, and the isle of Man. The Tuatha Dé Danann were an ancient race of magical beings who used to inhabit the islands before the humans conquered their land. Some people believe that an omnipotent Danann Stone was the source of all their magic, which they kept in the heart of their land. Once the humans settled into those lands, the Tuatha Dé Danann race disappeared. The only thing of theirs that remain is the mythical Danann Stone.

"I wasted countless years in Scotland trying to find documents that would somehow direct me to the location of the Danann Stone. And in my frenzy, I discovered one book that proved of somewhat significant information. It was a Celtic mythology text and inside was this drawing," Carlisle said as he pointed to my drawing.

Everyone poured over my sketch. _Isn't that Bella's necklace? _Alice asked me.

I nodded but warned her with my eyes not to say anything about it yet.

"According to the myths," Carlisle continued, "the Tuatha Dé Danann people consisted of elves, leprechauns, mermaids, fairies, witches, nymphs, satyrs—even vampires and werewolves. All of these fairytale creatures originated with the Tuatha Dé Danann. After the humans arrived, the fairies led all the Danann people into what was called an Otherworld. This Otherworld was protected by magic so no mortal could enter. Because vampires were known to try to steal the Danann Stone, the vampires were not allowed entrance to the Otherworld, which is why we live in the mortal world today."

"So what you're saying is other creatures exist?" I asked.

Carlisle sighed. "If they do, they are hidden in the Otherworld with the Danann Stone. Because no matter how hard I tried, I failed to locate it."

"But I still don't understand what my drawing has anything to do with this," I pointed out.

Carlisle looked around the table, making eye contact with every single one of us. He paused for an extra moment on me. This was the climatic point of the story, the pivotal point, the Eureka moment which everything ties together.

"As I said before, all the creatures needed the Danann Stone to have magic, which would restrict them to their homeland. So to be able to travel into mainland Europe while still keeping power, the fairies constructed necklaces made of gold which had an amulet that held a small portion of the greater Danann Stone. It was a portable source of magic.

"I once found a nomadic clan of Scottish vampires who also was hunting for the lost Otherworld. I joined them for a few months. The leader also had knowledge of these rumored stone pendants. He claimed that he knew of a vampire who found a fairy, stole her necklace, held it up to the full moon and became human. Of course, I'm not sure how credible that story is."

"How come you never told us?" Esme asked.

"It's not good to dwell on pipe dreams," Carlisle said with a frown. "It gives false hope to vampires that there is a way out from this cursed life. But it's only myths and fables, that's all. The Danann Stone is not real. The Tuatha Dé Danann were simply the earliest fairytales, made of nothing more than imagination."

"But you're wrong," I stated. All eyes turned to me. "How can none of it be real if I have personally seen one of these?" I pointed to my drawing.

"Where have you seen it?" Carlisle implored with urgency. He may have fooled the others, but I knew he hadn't gotten over the fantasy of the Danann Stone. Three hundred years and he still hasn't let go of the dream of being human again.

"She wore one around her neck," I said. "And if I'm not mistaken, she's worn it every single day."

"_Who?_" they all asked.

"Bella."

Everyone's eyes widened, especially Carlisle's. _Bella? She had a Danann Stone amulet? That's not possible. It doesn't exist._

"What if it all exists, though? What if everything you just said was true? What if Bella is of the Tuatha Dé Danann?"

Everyone was silent. And though they tried terribly hard to not think about it, they were all imagining themselves holding Bella's amulet up the moon and becoming human, returning to the life they had no choice but to leave behind. Who was I kidding? I was thinking about it too. The child Esme never got to keep, the perfect life Rosalie never got to live, the war Jasper never got to win, the bright future Emmett never got to see, the memories Alice never got to remember, and the footsteps Carlisle never got to follow, all flashed for my eyes to see. They tried hard, so terribly hard, to not get their hopes up, but in vain.

Oh, to be human again.

"You have to admit, it makes sense," I added. "Her blood smells nowhere near what normal human blood smells like, she is the only being we have ever encountered who is resistant to our powers, she used magic to save herself from the van, and she wears a pendant with the Danann Stone on it."

"But she doesn't have wings," Emmett pointed out.

"Or does she?" I replied. "Maybe she hides her wings under her jacket."

Alice crossed her arms. "Well, clearly there is only one way to find out for sure whether or not Bella is a fairy. Edward needs to take Bella to the dance."

"What."

"Think about it," she reasoned. "It's impossible to tell if Bella has any wings under her layers of clothing, but at the dance, she'll be wearing a dress—a skin tight, beautiful dress, preferably one with no back."

"She is a fairy, there is no need for silly tests," I complained.

"Oh but it will be so fun!" Rosalie exclaimed. "And this will be the first dance we've ever attended where Edward has a date!"

"Ouch, Rose," I said bitterly.

"I agree with Alice," Jasper said (surprise surprise), "If Edward is right about Bella, then he must also be right about Bella seeming to know about us. If she isn't human, we need to know if she poses as any threat to us." _Aaaaaaand Edward and Bella make a cute couple_. Jasper smiled at me. I punched his arm.

"Come on guys," I pleaded. "Please, Carlisle, tell them this isn't necessary."

_Actually—_

I stood up and threw my arms in defeat. "FINE! I'll ask her, but she won't agree. She glares at me like I committed some horrible deed against her. And she's got the entire school's male population following her around like puppies. It's not going to work."

Alice shook her head disapprovingly. _Edward, Edward, Edward, when will you learn? _"Just dazzle her."

* * *

><p><strong>post script: <strong>ohmyjesus, what is this insanity. bella is a magical creature? carlisle gave a lot of info this chapter (hopefully not too confusing) so i would love to hear what you think bella is. also note that i use 'fairy' as a general term for all mythological creatures. it does not mean bella is a fairy. or maybe she really is a fairy, and i'm just messing with you O_o

i feel like my edward gets more and more ooc every chapter. i apologize. also, _the little vampire _was not actually based on the legend of the danann stone. the danann stone doesn't exist, i made it up. but the tuatha de danann is like legit celtic folklore. (i'm a celtophile, fyi.)

anywho, thanks for reading. review and give this sarcastic, colloquial edward some love.


	5. cúig

stay right here, rocketeer  
><em>chapter five<em>

"Hi Bella," Eric greeted shyly.

"Oh hey, Eric." Bella smiled warmly. "What's up?"

"I was…um…I was wondering…"

From where Jasper and I were standing across the hallway, I chuckled as Eric Yorkie proceeded to make a blubbering fool of himself while trying to form a coherent sentence to ask Bella to the girls' choice dance. I pity the poor guy.

Bella scratched head smiled patiently at Eric. She was wearing another scarf today, a brown plaid one to match her brown, knee-length boots. She wore boots everyday too, I realized. Perhaps fairies have abnormalities in their calves as well?

"…it's just…I don't know how to say th-this…" Eric rambled. "Do you…are you going to the dance with Edward Cullen?"

Okay, I was _not_ expecting stutter-boy to say that. People thought Bella and I were already an item? Alright, cool story, no big deal. Trying not to be conspicuous, I straightened my back and listened more closely at the conversation.

"Wait, what?" Bella asked, just as shocked as I was. "No, I'm not. Where did you get that mad idea?"

"I don't know, that's what Mike said," Eric explained. "He said you turned him down because you had a thing for Cullen."

"That is," she hesitated, "well, that's true, but…"

Um, saywhatnow? If I was hypothetically drinking a gulp a water at that moment, I definitely would have hypothetically spit it out and sprayed the unsuspecting bystander in the face, hypothetically.

Back at the disaster that is Eric's life right now, he nodded at Bella and looked forlorn. "Oh. Just wondering." And he made a hasty retreat.

The bell rang, signifying the start of another day of school. I grabbed my bag and sprinted until I was a few feet behind Bella, then proceeded to walk in a human pace. When I passed her, I shook my head and said, "Tsk, tsk, tsk, that's two boys' hearts you've broken already."

She opened her mouth to retort but I was long gone.

* * *

><p>It wasn't until second period English did it dawn on me that I was a bit rusty on current traditions of courting. I mean, I know relationships are much more casual than before—this was no 1918, that's for sure—and I understand that fickle teenagers fall in and out of "love" everyday, but how does the whole thing <em>start<em>? How do I ask Bella to the dance without implying that I overheard her conversation with Eric and without implying that I like her?

When I think of Bella, the first thing that pops to mind is her utterly disgusting yet simultaneously appealing scent that makes me want to vomit, but in a happy way. Then I think of those three freckles at the corner of each eye and how they darken when she's mad or frustrated or confused or embarrassed. I think of her many colored scarves and I think of the interesting necklace underneath. I think of what she would possibly look like with iridescent wings attached to her back. I think of how she has to tilt her head up to talk to me because she's short as a sprite. I think of when I think I see her outside my window sometimes. I think of her laugh, her one eyebrow raised look, her glare, and her toxic touch.

And oh my God. I think I'm in love with Bella Swan and I didn't even know it.

_Tyler Crowley is asking Bella to the dance right now, I can hear them in the next room over, _Emmett alerted me, from halfway across the school campus. I immediately focused my ears in her direction until I picked up the conversation through Tyler's thoughts.

"Again, I'm really sorry about what happened the other day," Tyler said.

"There's no need to apologize," Bella replied, "I didn't even get hurt."

"But you could have," he argued. _I still don't understand how the van managed to miss her._ (Me too, bro. Me too.)

"It's fine, Tyler," she said. "Really."

"Let me take you to the dance," he said, as if going to the dance with Tyler Crowley was such a treat.

She sighed. "I can't."

"Why not?"

"I'm…uh…going with Edward Cullen."

Again, I didn't know how to react. Does that mean she wants to go with me, therefore she likes me? Or am I just a pathetic excuse to get out of going to the pathetic dance with her pathetic friends?

I looked at the image of Bella through Tyler's eye. What is that sphinx plotting in that noggin of hers? What I'd give to hear even half a thought.

_Fucking Cullen, _Tyler cursed in his head. "Oh, you two a couple now?"

But then the teacher shushed Tyler and the conversation ended and I focused back into my own classroom and surroundings.

On the plus side, at least she can't use the "I'm going with Edward Cullen" excuse on Edward Cullen himself.

* * *

><p>After I purchased my lunch, I headed in the direction of my family. They were all already seated, eagerly awaiting my asking Bella to the dance. Realizing I didn't want to potentially embarrass myself into the next century right in front of their scrutinizing eyeballs, I stopped at an empty table and sat down.<p>

_Boo, you're so lame, _Alice remarked. I stuck my tongue out at them. They laughed and continued to gaze in my direction like enthusiastic spectators.

Playing with the apple I had bought, I watched Bella get her lunch with Jessica and Angela, then sit down at their usual table. I failed to catch her eye, so I didn't have a means of beckoning over. Perhaps if I stared at the back of her head long enough, she'll sense it…

"Edward Cullen is staring at you," Jessica nudged Bella. Thank you for your bluntness, Jessica.

Bella instantly turned in the direction of the normal table I sat at. To my horror, Alice waved at her with an over-excited, just plain frightening smile. Finally, Bella's eyes found me, sitting like a grade-A loner. Her eyebrow went up as she assessed my empty table. I motioned for her to join me.

_Ohmygod, ohmygod, ohmygod, Edward Cullen is asking Bella to sit with him at lunch! She is so lucky! That's totally not fair. I wish I was as pretty as Bella, then I could be the one sitting with Edward at lunch. Hi Edward. Oh, oh, Edward, you're sexy. _Thoughts of the sort coursed through Jessica's mind. "Well, are you going to go?" she nudged Bella.

Bella remained unmoved. My confidence in this plan began to falter.

_THE Edward Cullen is inviting her to have lunch with him and she couldn't care less. Un-frickin-believable. _Jessica pouted.

Right before I lost my last ounce of self-esteem, Bella told her friends she'd talk to them later and made her way over to me. She set her tray down and took the seat across from me. "Hey."

"Hello," I smiled. The familiar pain of her presence washed over me but by now, it was only a matter of seconds before the stinging subsided. Bella may be immune to my powers, but now I'm growing immune to hers. I figured leveling the playing field is always nice.

"I thought you might want to have lunch with me today," I said.

"Why?" She viciously stabbed a piece of lettuce with her plastic fork.

"Well since I'm supposed to be taking you to the dance, shouldn't we at least act the part?"

She choked on her salad and took a long gulp of lemonade before responding. "How did you know about that?"

I smirked and ignored her question. "It's funny, because I thought the whole point of Sadie Hawkins dances was for the girl has to actually ask the guy before she can go brag to her friends. Or did you just assume I would say yes?"

Her freckles turned dark and a small blush crept into her cheeks. "To be honest, I was wracking my mind to think of a way to turn down Eric without being a total bitch, and he basically handed me that excuse. Then when Tyler asked, I figured I'd better keep my stories straight, you know? Are you mad?"

"Am I mad?" I shouted, pounding the table for dramatic emphasis. She actually quivered a little in her seat. I laughed. "No, of course I'm not mad. So I'm your date then?"

"You would actually want to go with me?" she asked, flabbergasted. Note to self: flabbergasted is a good look on Bella Swan.

"I absolutely abhor school dances," I reassured her, "but I guess I can make an exception. And besides, if I don't convince you to let Alice dress you up, I'm never going to hear the end of it." For the past twenty-four hours, Alice and Rosalie have been daydreaming about which French dress should go with which Italian shoes, and which dress they own has the most revealing back so they can lend to Bella.

"It's just…don't I make you feel…uncomfortable?" Bella asked sheepishly. She reached over to put her hand over mine and I immediately drew back. "See? Like that."

"No, no, it's not you," I hastily explained. "I don't think you know what you do to me, Bella."

She smiled brightly, like she was laughing at some inside joke. "Oh, I think I do."

We sat in peaceful silence for a while, with her munching on her salad and me staring at her like a creep.

"Don't you eat?" she questioned, gesturing to my full, untouched tray.

"Not really."

She gave me an ambivalent look, like whoa-that's-weird-but-this-is-Edward-so-what-do-you-expect. Since I obviously wasn't going to eat anything, she reached over and stole my apple. I tensed as her hand came dangerously close to me.

As she cleaned the apple with a napkin, I risked asking one of my questions. "So…friends?"

Bella paused before meeting my eyes. "Yeah, I'd say we qualify as friends."

"But I swear you're bipolar sometimes. One minute we'd be getting along fine, texting in class, you taking an apple right off my tray. But then the next minute I'll have mentioned some trivial thing that apparently upsets you and then you ignore me like I'm the plague. The fluctuation is driving me insane."

"I'm sorry. The thing is I have boundaries. And right now, sitting with you, I've already crossed so many lines and broken so many rules, it's not even remotely funny." In an effort to explain her strange behavior to me, she only succeeded in confusing me further. Kudos to Bella. "We really shouldn't be friends, Edward."

"You got that right," I muttered.

"What?"

"I agree, we should not be friends," I sighed. "While I know nothing about you, I sometimes forget that you know nothing about me. I'm dangerous, Bella. And if you were smart, you would stay away."

She laughed dryly, a glint in her eyes. "_You're _dangerous? Okay, sure. But if you were smart, you would be the one staying away from me."

Were fairies known to be fierce? Tinker Bell never came off as _dangerous_.

"So even though your very existence is still an intriguing mystery to me and even though I'd like to think you know just as little about me, we can still agree that our being friends is an overall bad idea?" I said.

"Basically. With that being said, do you want to go to the dance with me?"

Look at that. Easy as pie. And I didn't even have to dazzle her.

"I thought you'd never ask."

She giggled and then bit into the apple. From that point on, there was no turning back.

"Hey, Edward," Alice called as she waltzed her way over. "Hi! You must be Be-Be-Bella…" _Holy shit, you weren't kidding! She reeks!_

"Bella, my sister Alice; Alice, Bella," I introduced.

"It's nice to meet you, Alice," Bella greeted politely.

Alice was doing her best not to gag or run away. Maybe I enjoyed her pain a little. If I had to suffer this, so should she. "Edward," she choked out, "I just came to remind you about Bio." _Don't go to class today. They're doing blood tests. _

"Thanks," I said.

_Ach, I just wanted to meet Bella, I didn't know her smell was actually this intense. _With a small wave to Bella, Alice quickly made her way out the cafeteria door and into the fresh air. The sight of her taking huge gulps of winter air was quite comical.

"What about Bio?" Bella asked. The bell had rung and everyone around us was scrambling to their next class.

I remained seated and smiled nonchalantly. "It's healthy to play hooky every once in a while."

"You're not coming?" There was evident confusion in her voice, but I heard a bit of disappointment. She was sad that I wasn't going to be at Biology with her. I rejoiced.

"No. But you better hurry or you'll be late."

She dumped her trash, waved goodbye and walked away. I headed to the parking lot to wait in my car. I contemplated risking it and going to Biology after all, but then I remembered the consequences. There was a high chance I would lose it and kill a bleeding human who came too close. There was also a high chance Bella's fairy blood would paralyze me.

Instead, I sat in my Volvo, cranked up Backseat Goodbye, and thought about Bella. She hadn't shown any uncertainty in going to the dance itself. Does that mean she really doesn't have wings she's afraid to reveal? Does that mean she's really not a fairy? She said something about being dangerous, more dangerous than me. What if she was actually a vampire-eating monster in disguise? What if her captivating, mysterious personality and incredible attractiveness were just ploys to draw feeble vampires in for the kill? I shuddered at the thought.

Suddenly, I caught sight of Bella exiting the science building. She walked a few steps to a picnic table and sat down, looking despondent.

Before the better judgment side of me called on my senses, I got out of my car and walked to Bella. She was sitting with her eyes closed and didn't hear me approaching until I was standing right in front of her.

"Gah!" she shrieked when she opened her eyes to see me inches away.

"Hello to you too." I sat down beside her.

"I thought you were ditching."

"I was inside my car and I saw you come out. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just a little woozy. The smell of blood makes me faint."

"Humans can't smell blood."

"I'm not—" She stopped herself but too late. I just got her to admit she was indeed not a human. Kudos to Cullen.

"Did you prick yourself?" I asked. She didn't' seem to be bleeding, since I didn't seem to be in paralysis.

"No. I couldn't. That's why I left. I exaggerated my light-headedness to go to the nurse."

"Do you want to go to the nurse then?"

"No, I'm fine right here."

I smiled.

"How did you know not to go to Bio today? How could you possibly know Mr. Banner was going to have us prick ourselves with needles—which is completely unsanitary and is screaming AIDS, by the way—when he didn't do it with any other class today?" she asked.

"I didn't know." Which was true, since Alice was the one who knew, not me.

"But how…?" Her eyebrows scrunched up in frustration and her freckles twinkled from light to dark. "You knew Eric and Tyler were going to ask me to the dance, you knew when it would get cold, and you knew what we were going to do in Biology, all before it actually happened."

Technically, the latter two were all Alice's doing, but I didn't say anything. "Lucky guesses?"

She shook her head. "Nuh uh, there are no such things as lucky guesses."

"What are you saying, Bella?" I leaned forward and stared intently into her eyes. "That I am _psychic_?"

Her breath hitched and her short exhale hit my face, sending shocks down throughout my body. Maybe this dazzling was having some effect on her, but it seemed quite inefficient if it counter-affected me more. I leaned back to create some space between us and waited for the feeling to return to my face.

"I…I…um…what?" she asked.

I laughed, only it sounded kind of stupid since my lips were still partially numb.

A light drizzle was coming down and it created the most miniscule puddles on the concrete. I was enthralled in this delicate dance of nature for a while. What struck me then was the absolute silence of it all. Although I could still hear the hum of voices and thoughts in the buildings surrounding me, the soft platter of the rain covered those up until it was all a blurred white noise. If I concentrated on Bella hard enough, I could almost hear pure silence. Even though the smell of her gave me the worst migraines, her empty mind was also the only thing that could clear my mind.

I looked back at Bella. She was watching me with her head slightly tilted, her eyes wide, and her bottom lip curled under her teeth.

"Your eyes are yellow again," she said.

"You're wearing a scarf again," I said.

She smiled. "Touché."

We sat in the rain for a few minutes longer. I listened to the steady rhythm of the raindrops, then the steady beating of Bella's heart, then the constant nothingness of Bella's mind. No more vampires or fairies or whatever she actually is. Just Bella and me in the rain.

She sneezed.

"Do you want a ride home?" I offered.

"Oh…"

"You have to say yes, because your father dropped you off at school today and you don't have a way to get home." I stood up and smiled in victory.

She stood up slowly. "Again, how did you know?"

I headed in the direction of my parked car. "Less talking, more walking," I called over my shoulder.

"But how did you know Charlie drove me to school? He—"

"He dropped you off at the corner because he didn't want to embarrass you by dropping you off at school in a police car, yes, I know. Your dad has been paranoid ever since the incident at the parking lot and even though you didn't get harmed at all, he's worried that you will slip on the ice like Tyler did and since today's ice was especially bad, he insisted on driving you. But he had to head into town to investigate a robbery so he can't come to pick you up and asked you to find a ride home."

She stood with her mouth open. "I never told anyone about that. I was going to ask Jessica for a ride, but I forgot."

She didn't have to tell anyone. I heard their conversation in the cruiser this morning from where I was standing a block away.

"Let me take you home," I insisted.

"But what about your brothers and sisters?" she asked. "Don't they need you to drive them home?"

Aha, so she has been observing me too! "It's okay, I'll just go back for them."

She glanced at my watch around my wrist. "But school is going to end in 20 minutes. You would probably barely make it to my house by then."

"I drive fast."

Humorously, that statement seemed to scare her more than any other sentence that's ever left my mouth.

I unlocked the Volvo and opened the passenger door for Bella. Still uncertain, she stood before the open door, half wanting to go in, half wanting to run and never come back.

"You don't have to get in if you don't want to," I said. I hoped I wasn't forcing her to get into a car with a vampire, that's bad etiquette.

She took a deep breath, gave me a warm smile, and gingerly slid into the seat.

She trusted me.

I couldn't decide if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

Once I got in the driver's seat and shut the door, I instantaneously regretted inviting Bella into my car. Now that we were alone in a closed space, her bodily fumes were confined and the more time we spent in there, the more concentrated the smell became. We just pulled out of the parking lot and I already stopped breathing. I thought about rolling down the windows, but since it's raining and 20 degrees outside, it might give off the impression that I think she stinks. Which is true, but rude regardless.

I floored the gas pedal and watched the speedometer rise. The sooner I got to Bella's house, the sooner I can get relieved of this intoxicating torture. To take my mind off it, I smacked the stereo button. That was a big mistake.

"You listen to Backseat Goodbye too?" she gasped.

Great. Just great. Now she wanted to make conversation. Conversation required responding. Responses required talking. And talking required breathing.

"Yeah, they're great." I stuck to my speak-in-as-few-words-as-possible-and-maybe-she-won't-notice tactic.

"I'm really like his lyrics, more than anything. Because the words actually mean something, you know? It's not just pointless love songs. It's poetic."

I nodded, trying to judge how many more words I could form with the air supply I had left. "Any other music you like?"

"Acoustic, heavy metal, and Celtic. That's the three I listen to."

That one word stuck out to me like no other. "Celtic?"

"Oh yes. Celtic Women, Celtic Thunder, Solas, everything. I'm half Irish, you know."

Her last five words nearly caused me to drive into a tree. _I'm half Irish, you know_. That spell she chanted sounded Gaelic in retrospect. She's half Irish. She's half _Irish_. The Otherworld. Tuatha Dé Danann.

Her house came into view and I stopped in her driveway. She blinked, surprised we arrived so quickly. Gathering her stuff, she opened the door and stepped out. "Thanks, Edward. I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Actually, you won't."

"I won't?"

"Camping." I was now legitimately out of air.

When she realized I was not going to say any more, she sadly shut the door and waved goodbye.

* * *

><p>"What the hell?" As everyone climbed into the car, they all got a personal whiff of Bella's scent.<p>

Alice sat down in the passenger seat, then bounced right back up. "Ow! That—that stings!"

I smirked. "Pssh. What are you afraid of, Alice? Nothing's wrong with the seat. You know, except Bella sat in it."

Even that slightest touch to the leather that was previously touched by our little fairy, Alice was in tremendous pain. Jasper hissed, sensing Alice's pain. He was not very pleased with my prank. Emmett on the other hand was howling in laughter.

After Alice climbed into the back to sit on Jasper's lap, we finally set off on our way home. It was only a matter of minutes before the leftover stench of Bella really got to them.

"This is nasty!" Rosalie exclaimed. "You give Bella one ride and the car smells this bad? We need to get some Febreeze."

By the time we pulled off the main highway into the small forest road, all four of them in the back were coughing.

"This is agony!" Emmett cried. _How can you stand this, Edward? Are you a madman? Do you enjoy pain?_

I guess you could say that.

"Let us off, Edward. Right now," Alice demanded. She held her hand to her nose.

Chuckling, I pulled over and the four of them dashed out the car. "Just wanted to show you guys what I have to endure on a daily basis," I said.

"Good for you, Edward," Jasper said, taking deep, refreshing gulps of the fresh air. "But from now on, Rosalie can drive us in her car while you can have that stinkbug all to yourself."

They ran towards home and I drove on the road, knowing full well that they would reach the house far before I did.


	6. sé

stay right here, rocketeer  
><em>chapter six<em>

If a tree falls in a forest but no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?

If a tree falls in a forest because a dead grizzly bear thrown by a burly vampire collided against tree with unbelievable force, but no one is around to hear it, then does it make a sound?

As I pondered this psychological question, hand stroking chin, Emmett drained his third grizzly bear and tossed it at another unsuspecting tree. A flock of startled birds flew into the air and I ducked to avoid their haphazard wings.

"You've been awfully quiet today," Emmett said, repositioning the fallen tree so he could sit on it.

I shrugged. "I've been thinking."

"Little Miss Fairy got your mind?"

"Pretty much."

"Don't act so lovesick. You only drank two mountain lions today."

"I just can't get Bella's smell out of my nose. It's like a disgusting, persistent aftertaste. It's ruining my appetite."

"Yeah, because you hang out that stinkbug too much. Soon _you _will start to smell. And at that point, we'll have no other choice but to kick you and your stench out of the house."

I smiled sardonically. "Ah, the benefits of family."

Snapping a branch out of the way, I sat down beside Emmett. Last night, the two of us took off to go hunting and we planned to be gone for the entire weekend. However, this was only Friday and I already knew I was not going to be able to stick with that aforementioned plan. I keep thinking about Bella, but I swear I'm not in love with her, I swear, I swear, I swear.

"So you really think she's a fairy? With wings and magic and everything?" Emmett asked.

"Maybe. She did mention something about water though, and she was able to melt the ice in the parking lot so Tyler's van would miss her. I'm going on a limb and saying she's a mermaid. Mermaids can have magic too, right? Especially water-related powers."

"A mermaid? Really? Well, if we're making this into a wild guessing competition, then I'm going with elf."

"Bella is not tiny, though. She's short, but she's taller than Alice at least."

"Well one, Alice is an inch shy of a dwarf so she hardly makes a good standard for comparison. And two, maybe everything about fairies in the stories aren't true. I mean, we're vampires but we don't have fangs, we aren't scared of garlic, and we don't combust in the sunlight."

"No, we sparkle instead."

The sun was bright and completely unobstructed by any clouds. Our pale skin reflected the rays like two brilliant stars. "Is this even attractive?"

"Apparently."

I certainly hope Bella finds this attractive and not pansy-like. Just saying.

Then Emmett's mind drifted to the legendary Danann Stone necklace, supposedly around Bella's neck as we speak. _If I could be human again… _"So let's say Bella would somehow be willing to give her necklace to us and we used it to become human again. Would you want to be?"

"Absolutely," I answered. "To be liberated from this eternal damnation of sparkling is every vampire's dream, wouldn't you say?"

"Our family would all be dead by now."

"But you and Rosalie can start your own family. And…"

"…and you and Bella?" he finished my sentence with a smile. "Dude, you're totally in love with her."

I rolled my eyes. "Love doesn't happen that fast, Emmett. Well, maybe to you, but not to average people. You usually have to get to know the person before you even consider using the word love."

"Because you're so average, Edward."

"I just think that she has the right to know what we are and I have the right to know what she is before we decide anything else."

A puma was walking about half a mile east from where we were sitting. Emmett looked at me. _You want it?_

I should still be thirsty, yet there was no need to satisfy it. Venom didn't fill my mouth. My instincts didn't take over. I was completely and utterly numb. "No, I'm good."

He gave me one last questioning look before getting up from the tree trunk. "So, you excited for the dance next Saturday?"

"Sure."

"How long has it been since you were in the romantic field, my friend? Do you even know how to dance?"

I could hear a challenge in his voice. "Yeah, I know how to dance. And I can dance better than you any day."

He glared at me. "You got nerve, bro. You, me, next Saturday, dance-off."

I popped my collar. "Bring it."

/

After I talked nonstop about Bella, being a "party pooper" and ultimately bringing down Emmett's "hunting mojo" by my lack of enthusiasm, he reluctantly agreed that we would return to Forks earlier than planned.

Saturday night, we returned home and then I headed off to Port Angeles. No, not because Alice told me that Bella was also there with Jessica and Angela, but because it was only three and a half months before Esme's birthday so I should really get her a gift... _Really._

Finding Bella was not hard. After two days of not seeing her, her scent's impact on me grew so that the second I pulled into a parking spot, I knew she had been here and I knew which direction she went. Although I wanted to accidentally bump into her and be like "Oh, look at that, what a coincidence?" I knew that was borderline creepy so I remained in my car. I found Jessica's thoughts quite easily and followed the three girls around by listening to Jessica's thoughts and Bella's smell.

I would just be a precaution. If all goes well, she doesn't have to know I'm here. It would probably be better if she didn't know how desperate I was to see her again. I just want to make sure she's safe. Yeah. That's it.

The thing is though, waiting around for the girls as they tried on cheap retail dresses was devastatingly dull. Soon I listening to the radio, analyzing the chord progressions in "Cheers (Drink to That)" out of sheer boredom. So it should be no surprise that when I checked up on Bella again a few minutes later, I found that she had gone separate ways from Jessica and Angela. See, that's what I get for slacking off on a job I shouldn't even be doing in the first place.

I lost Bella, but no big deal, I thought, I'll just go find her again. But either I was caught in my reverie for a freakishly long time, or Bella could really speed walk because she went far. Her scent grew faint a little past the corner where a bookstore was and then disappeared altogether. I checked to see if maybe she was inside the bookstore—since that's where Jessica thought she was at—but there was only the smell of new books, the bookseller's floral perfume, and no trace of Bella.

Now I was starting to panic. Where could Bella possibly have gone where her strong smell would disappear altogether? Then my imagination came up with lots of worst-case-scenarios where Bella was abducted by pedophiles, or aliens, or alien pedophiles, and pretty soon I was frantically driving along the strip mall of Port Angeles. I drove with the window down so I could stop every few blocks and sniff the air. She was literally _gone_.

I switched tactics and searched the minds of all the shoppers instead, hoping any of them will recall seeing a really beautiful girl walk by. After that proved ineffective, the panic really set in. Where could she be where I cannot see her and no one else can see her?

The sky had darkened into twilight by then. I had circled the place three times when I paused at the outskirts of the shopping block. The streets after this section were unlit and vacant. Bella wouldn't be stupid enough to walk down there, would she?

Since nothing else worked, I headed in that direction. That's when I picked up the thoughts of those men. The gang of drunkards was walking by a tiny family owned bookstore when they noticed a short, brunette talking to the bookkeeper inside.

Bella.

I quickly accelerated, driving in that direction. After a few turns, sure enough, Bella's scent came back to attack my senses. Now, how did her smell skip that giant stretch of land? How could her trace possibly be disconnected?

A truck was pulling out from the warehouse so I came to a stop to allow it to back out. I had located Bella so there was no longer that urgency.

Bella thanked the bookkeeper and exited the store, the tiny bell attached to the door ringing. She spotted the group of drunken bros chilling across the street, then walked up the sidewalk.

"Hey!"

That's when things went awry and that previous anxiety crept back. The gang stood up and began following her. When I took a good listen to their thoughts, I nearly pressed down on the gas pedal and drove right through the truck, which was still taking its damn sweet time backing out of the damn warehouse.

Run, Bella! I wanted to scream. I watched the scene unfold through the men's eyes. Why was she just standing there, watching them approach? Does she lack any sense of, oh I don't know, self-preservation?

_This one will be easy_, one guy thought. He took a few steps toward her.

"Stay back!" Bella finally called out. She backed up while the gang pressed forward and soon she was backed against a wall.

I honked at the truck, getting wildly impatient.

Bella's eyes showed fear as she scanned from man to man. She looked troubled, like she couldn't make a decision. Which doesn't make any sense, since under the circumstances, there didn't seem to be that many options to choose from. All she had to do was get the hell out of there in any way, shape, or form, but she was just standing with feet firmly planted on the ground, and I could not understand why.

When a big enough gap was created, I sped around the truck to go save Bella. What would she do without me?

Just another corner and I'll reach her. The men were closing in on her. I hoped against hope that I would make it before a single one of those filthy men laid a finger on her.

Bella looked upwards, then back at the men. Now she had nowhere to go; she was completely and utterly surrounded. I turned my headlights to full beam.

The next three things happened simultaneously: three men lunged forward to grab Bella, I rounded the corner with a loud screech from my tires, and Bella jumped up to amazingly land on the roof of the building.

The drunken men were confused as to how Bella got up there when the building was a good twenty feet high. Then they were even more shocked as I approached them and blinded them with my headlights. I parked the car in the middle of the road and jumped out, watching Bella stand on the roof like it was the most casual thing in the world.

So, what would Bella do without me? Jump onto the nearest roof, apparently.

"Edward?" she called, squinting against my car's headlights.

"Hey man, you almost ran us over," one guy said.

I glared at all of them, growling and baring my teeth. Their innate fear kicked in and all of them at least had the sensibility to scram.

When I turned back around, Bella was suddenly on the ground again, standing two feet in front of me.

"Wh—? How did you get back down so fast?"

She said nothing, her freckles the darkest I've ever seen them before. She wasn't wearing a scarf today and this was only the second time I laid eyes on her pendant. It was just as Carlisle described and just as I remembered: gold chain, gold plate, red gem attached. The stone was softly glowing in the dark night.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

I was still trying to calculate the physics of Bella jumping onto the roof and then jumping back down. "I came to save you, but I guess you didn't need to be saved. You had an escape plan all along."

"You were going to save me?" A small grin played at her lips. "But how did you find me?"

"Not easily."

Once again, we were faced with two concurring dilemmas. I wanted to know how she got onto that building, she wanted to know how I found her, and neither of us willing to confess, neither of us willing to compromise.

Being so close to her was also clogging my train of thought. Every part of my body was stinging already and it felt there was a wildfire in my brain.

"Get in the car," I said. "Jessica and Angela are worried."

She opened her mouth, probably to question how I knew, but didn't bother. She obediently climbed into the passenger seat, I got in the driver's seat and I drove us to the restaurant her friends were waiting at. I actually didn't know if they were in fact worried or if they were even aware of Bella's absence, but hopefully so, otherwise they would be crappy friends indeed.

Bella and I sat in silence until a shaky breath alerted me that she was crying, or at least she looked like she was about to. Her eyes stared emptily and unblinkingly at the dashboard; her arms were crossed around her body. She was shivering.

"Are you okay?" I turned up the heat in the car.

"Y-yeah."

"It's alright now, Bella. You're safe."

"I know."

"Those men…those men won't hurt you…" I suddenly remembered the horrid thoughts of those fools and felt a raging desire to turn around the car and actually run them over, several times. My anger must have been delayed, for the sight of Bella on top of the building was overwhelmingly mindblowing, to say the least.

"What did they want with me?" she whispered.

The thoughts and mental images flashed before my mind. "Horrible things. They were thinking horrible things, so—"

Her eyebrows furrowed and she interrupted me. "Thinking? You knew what they were thinking?"

Right then, I parked in front of the Italian restaurant just as Jessica and Angela walked out. They both sighed in relief when they saw Bella, then their eyes widened when they saw me.

_Did Bella ditch us to meet up with Edward? How scandalous, I love it! _Jessica thought. "Hey Bella. Hi Edward."

"Hey guys, sorry I kept you waiting," Bella explained. "I got lost but then found this really good bookstore. I talked with the old man working there for a long time, but then I got lost on the way back again. I ran into Edward, luckily, and now here I am."

"We're just glad nothing bad happened to you," Angela said. (Does this count as irony?)

"Sorry we already ate," Jessica apologized. "We were hungry and we were planning on driving around to look for you."

"Oh." Bella looked between her friends and me. "Um, I'm still hungry. I think I'll go eat dinner. You two go on home, it's getting late. Edward can drive me home. Right, Edward?" She gave me a look. She had things to talk to me about. Our conversation wasn't over yet.

"Right." I nodded.

Angela smiled and Jessica went ballistic over this. The girls waved goodbye and Bella walked into the warmth of the restaurant. I quickly followed.

The waitress's eyes widened as she took in the two of us. _Shit, she's pretty…shit, he's pretty too!_ "Table for two?" she asked as she drowned in self-pity.

We nodded and the waitress led us a small table in the middle of the restaurant.

I was about to request a more private table when Bella stole the words right out of my mouth. "Can we sit over there?" She pointed to a row of booths in the corner of restaurant.

"Sure." We moved to the isolated booth, the waitress handed us our menus, and left us alone.

Bella sat down on the cushioned seat and I sat down across from her. She had a look of determination, like she needed to get to the bottom of this right here, right now. "Why—"

"Order first." I put on the act of raising my menu to shield myself from her inquisitive eyes.

She reluctantly copied my actions and scanned the menu at a ferocious speed. Two seconds later, she held up her hand and waved the passing waitress over. Before the waitress could even open her mouth to greet us or suggest the daily special, Bella blurted out, "Hi, I'll have a glass of Coke and the mushroom ravioli, thanks."

_Well that was rude. _The waitress jotted down the order and turned to me. "So as I was about to say, my name is Tiffany and I'll be your waitress for tonight. May I interest you in our seafood linguini?"

The waitress made a point to talk only at me. Bella scowled and rolled her eyes impatiently. I laughed at the two. "No, I'll just have a glass of Coke too, please."

"Is that all I can get for you two tonight?"

"Yes, thank you." Bella's overly sweet voice was dripping in sarcasm and can-you-please-leave-now?

With a flip of a hair, the waitress left to place our orders. Once she was out of earshot, I shook my head at Bella. "That wasn't very polite."

"I. Am. Hungry." Then she dropped her head to play with the cloth napkin on her lap before whispering, "And besides, she was looking at you like she was going to jump you."

I laughed. "Seriously?"

"Did you not see the chick?"

"I guess I was too caught up in your humorous actions."

Her eyes softened and she smiled. Then something clicked and she remembered why we were here in the first place. "You have a lot of explaining to do, mister."

"As do you."

The waitress returned with our drinks. This time, I did pay attention to her; she was in her twenties, had bleached blonde hair, and seemed to hover over me. "Are you suuure you don't want anything to eeeat?" she purred at me. Bella growled under her breath. I was highly amused by the fact that Bella was jealous over this.

"No, thanks. I'm fine."

_Yes you are. _The waitress walked away, exaggeratedly swaying her hips from side to side.

Bella took a long sip of her soda then put both hands on the table in all seriousness. "How did you find me?"

I looked her straight in the eye and decided to tell her the whole truth, or at least as much of it as I could. "I followed you."

She choked on her Coca-Cola.

I clamped my mouth shut, afraid I already said too much. "Does that creep you out?"

"Just a little, although I do find your concern quite touching." Bella Swan found my stalking _touching_. Good lord.

"Okay, my turn," I said. "How did you get on top of that building?"

Now, she looked me straight in the eyes and answered, "I jumped."

"Twenty feet in the air?"

Her eyes narrowed. "Can't you?"

This conversation was steadily going down a steep hill into restricted territory. I felt like with every question and every response, I was slowly getting peeled away until only the naked truth remained. I sat up straight and rested both hands on the table, like her.

"Yes, I can. But that's different," I answered.

"Surely it's fathomable that I could have strength somewhat equal to yours."

"But I'm a—"

"You're a what?"

"I'm…not exactly human, as I'm sure you already know."

"And I'm not exactly human, either, as I'm sure you already know."

The waitress came again to deliver Bella's ravioli. Bella gave her a nod and picked up her fork.

"You never eat or drink," Bella said as she stabbed a piece and popped it into her mouth.

"You like to wear scarves to cover that necklace," I said.

"Your eyes change color from black to yellow."

"Your freckles change color from light tan to black."

She glared at me and I glared back. Two could play at this game.

"Your skin is whiter than white and you're inhumanly attractive," she continued.

"Your skin glows and you're inhumanly attractive."

"You drive like a maniac."

"You can fly." Only after I spoke those words did I see the truth behind them. That's how she got to the top of the building and that's how she got down so quickly and gracefully. That's why I lost her scent halfway through Port Angeles. She was flying. But, I didn't see her wings, so how did that work?

"You can see the future," she stated.

"That's not true," I interjected.

She looked puzzled for a minute. "You can…read minds?"

"That, I can," I nodded.

"How does that work?" she asked, absolutely fascinated.

I shrugged. "I don't know the mechanics of it, I just have a sixth sense, I guess. I can't turn it off, just like you can't turn your normal ears off."

"Can your whole family read minds?"

"No, just me. Alice is the one who can see the future, and Jasper can control emotions. So far, none of our powers have any effect on you. I can hear every single person's thoughts in this restaurant. Except for you."

"Why is that?" Her hand went up to touch the gem on her necklace.

"I've been trying to figure that out ever since I met you."

So much remained unspoken, yet we were both afraid to speak it. She finished her ravioli, drowned her Coke, and moved on to my glass.I motioned to the waitress to bring the check.

"You do realize that this is the second time I've attempted to rescue you only to see that you didn't need my services," I noted.

"It's the _thought_ that counts." She burst out laughing at her own pun. I laughed too, not because her lame joke was funny but because she was laughing so obnoxiously at her own lame joke.

The waitress brought over the check and Bella and I reached for it at the same time. Our fingers touched and I hissed at the electrifying pain that scorched my entire body. I pulled back, my hand in such great pain I could have sworn it had fallen off.

"Edward?" Bella stared at me confused and concerned. "What's wrong?"

I clenched my fists, willing the pain to subside. "It's…difficult as it is to be this close to you, Bella," I explained with troubled breaths. "But even the slightest touch…"

Her freckles darkened and she frowned. "I hurt you?"

"It's bearable," I lied.

"I'm sorry, is there anything I can do?" She searched through her purse and finally pulled out a small package and placed it on the table in front of me. A band-aid. I chuckled at the sight of it. "I would offer to kiss it better, but then that would only make it worse," she shrugged.

She then pulled out a wallet and laid a twenty dollar bill on the check.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing? I'm paying." I reached for the check but she placed her hand over it.

"I ate everything, so of course I should pay," she reasoned. "But go ahead, try to take it from me."

She put her arm in front of it so that it was impossible to get the check without making contact with her. I sat back in defeat and she smiled. I regret telling her what her touch does to me. She was totally going to use this to her advantage.

* * *

><p><strong>post script: <strong>in a way, this story is simply the feminism version of twilight. bella is strong and can fend for herself, while edward repeatedly fails at being her hero. (oh jeez, now i'm doing literary analysis on my own writing.) anyway, i hope you liked the chapter, thanks for reading.


	7. seacht

stay right here, rocketeer  
><em>chapter seven<em>

The car ride home from Port Angeles was brutal. I was still partially numb from brushing fingers with Bella, and I had been with Bella for the past two hours so her scent was really getting to me. I was literally starting to be impaired just by being with her.

"How old are you?"

Bella's random question threw me off guard, like she has a habit of doing. All night we had been interrogating each other but always avoiding the pivotal questions that would determine just _what _we both were.

"Seventeen."

Was I ready for her to know? Was my family at stake if she knew?

"And how long have you been seventeen?"

…but, she's known all along, hadn't she?

"A while."

And the secret was out. I went onto the ramp and entered the highway. I weaved in and out of cars, the red taillights swirling around us, out of focus and peripheral.

"I guess I don't know everything about vampires after all."

"What do you mean?"

"You and your family, you're different from the others, Edward."

"The others?" It was becoming apparent that Bella has had previous experience with my kind. She had the unfair advantage. She knew about us. Yet we knew nothing about her.

"Vampires drink human blood…" Instead of answering my question, she asked the one question I've been anticipating/dreading all long. And here comes the overwhelming self-hatred of being the monster that I was. "…how come you don't?"

Ah. Here I was, about to launch into a well-rehearsed speech as to how we are semi-humane and refrain from drinking human blood, but here Bella was, jumping the gun. She was always full of surprises. How in the world did she know _that_?

"We went to La Push earlier today," she admitted, "and I got a little inside information on you Cullens."

"La Push? So you met the Quileute."

"Charlie's best friend is Billy Black, who is the tribe leader. I met Billy's son Jacob today and, uh, he told me some Quileute legends about the cold ones who hunted deer instead of people."

"Jacob must be some secret keeper."

"It's not confidential information. Technically, it was all myths and legends."

"How exactly did you get him to confess, because I have a feeling Jacob didn't just come up to you and go, 'Oh hey, I have a dying urge to share a story about vampires with you right now.'"

She smiled. "Okay, maybe I flirted with him a little bit."

"Again with the ruthless heartbreaking!"

"Hey!" Bella moved to playfully slap my arm, but then remembered and restrained herself. Thank you.

"I'm just joking, Bella. I'm sure you're not intentionally messing with guys' minds. With someone as pretty as you, even without trying, you could get any guy you want under your _spell_." There was a moment of silence before we both cracked up at my attempted pun, which was probably even lamer than her earlier one.

"Yeah, well, even if I could get any guy I want, I'm sitting here with you aren't I?"

Was it just me, or did that sound like an indirect way of confessing she likes me, or something.

"Back on topic now," she said, changing the subject and the atmosphere, "you weren't really camping, were you? You and Emmett were hunting?"

"I _have _killed people before. But I don't anymore."

"But how?"

"Carlisle is very humane. To him, being a vampire is a curse enough in itself; he doesn't want to kill innocent lives too. He discovered that by feeding off animals, he could sustain himself. When he tried to impose on me this altered hunting lifestyle, I rebelled at first. I murdered many people, Bella. It's not a past I'm proud of, but it's my past nonetheless and I need you to understand."

"What made you stop?"

"After a while, I realized I agreed with Carlisle. I don't want to be a monster. I may not have a soul anymore, but at least I can act like I do."

When she didn't respond for a while, I turned to find her looking up at me with such emotion-filled eyes. A teardrop flowed down her cheek. Surprisingly, the tear smelled nice; it was exactly the same sweet pea scent that was always lingering underneath the hideous stench. It was such a beautifully tragic moment.

"Did I say something…?" I was horribly at a loss. I didn't exactly know how to comfort her when A, I couldn't touch her and B, I had no idea what was wrong.

She shook her head, wiped the tear, and turned to look out the window, never speaking another word about why she was crying. I guess Bella won the unofficial game then; for she solved the entire mystery of me, but I still know nothing, if not even less than nothing of her.

We continued driving, me with a dizzy head that should definitely qualify as some form of DUI and Bella staring nostalgically out the window. It wasn't until I pulled onto the road that would lead to her house did we speak again.

"So, Mr. Vampire, any clues on what I am?" she asked, with a small smile.

"Well, we have our theories still."

"Any new ones you'd like to share?"

"Nah, they're too embarrassing."

She pouted and it was downright adorable. I laughed as I stopped in front of her house. The light from inside was still on and I could see the shadow of Charlie waiting up for her.

"Thanks for driving me home. And for semi-saving me earlier."

"You sure you're okay? You're not going into shock or anything?"

"No, I'm fine. Bye, Edward. I'll see you Monday?" she asked in a hopeful voice.

"Yes. Monday."

She got out of the car and her absence brought in a rush of fresh air which cleared my mind. Yet instead of breathing in relief, I missed her already. I missed Bella and all the pain she brought upon me. (That has to be considered some type of self-harm.) I rolled down the window just as Bella turned back. She smiled and walked back up to me.

"I would prefer if I got to see you tomorrow, though," I said.

Her eyes brightened at my suggestion, but then her smile faded. "I can't. Tomorrow I'm going back to La Push to go see Jacob."

I frowned. "Jacob?"

"No, not like that. It's…uh…" She bit her bottom lip. "It's important."

"Can you tell me?"

"I don't know."

I sighed. I was going to have to trust her even if she didn't trust me. "Fine. See you Monday, then."

She smiled brightly and turned to walk to her house again.

"Even after everything I told you tonight, you still want to be friends?" I called after her, just to make sure.

"You're not that dangerous, Edward," she replied without turning back. "You're underestimating me."

* * *

><p>The second I walked into the house from the garage, everyone was gathered around me. Six pairs of glaring ocher eyes.<p>

"You told her, Edward," Alice accused. "How could you?"

"Guys, relax." I walked past them into the living room and they followed. "She knew all along, anyway."

"What? She knew we were vampires?" Jasper asked. "How could she possible know we're monsters, and yet choose to get close to you anyway?"

"She wasn't always so trusting, remember? The first day, she was hostile towards me. She's met vampires before, but probably nomads or others who feed off humans. It wasn't until she realized we were different vampires did she choose to speak to me again. It all makes sense now."

"Did you find out what she is?" Emmett asked excitedly. _Elf, elf, elf, elf, elf…_

"No, I did not."

Rosalie crossed her arms. "So you ditched us to go play buddy-buddy with Bella, tell her everything about us, but still figure out nothing about her? That was quite pointless."

"No worries, the dance is next Saturday. We'll find out in due time," Esme said. "It is safe to say that Bella can keep our secret, then?"

"If you're wondering whether she'll tattle to the world and then get us in trouble with the Volturi, then no, she will not," I said. "I don't think she can openly tell people we're vampires if she also has something to hide."

"Whatever you say, Edward," Rosalie smirked. _It's just because you're in love with her._

_I don't know what Rosalie is thinking, but judging by her expression, I agree with what she's thinking_, Alice's mental voice chimed in.

Never doubt the power of suggestion. Because after all their teasing about Bella and I, I was finally realizing that maybe they were right.

* * *

><p>I was in my room waiting for the night to pass while thinking over what Bella said. She had met vampires before who tainted her impression about us. They must have done some wrong to cause such an emotional reaction. But I've torn down that wall; I showed her that there were vampires out there who were compassionate. There are always two sides of everything. I'm glad I could show Bella that there was a good side to vampires as well.<p>

What had the other vampires done, what horrible, traumatic crime could they possibly have committed to make her distrust vampires so much? Why did she believe us to be such cruel creatures? I jumped hoops and bent over backwards for her, yet she still can't trust me enough to tell me what she was going to see Jacob for? What did she need with that werewolf anyway?

It was ironic that Charlie Swan was best friends with Carlisle Cullen and Billy Black, the leaders of the vampire coven and the werewolf pack respectively. Before now, I always thought Charlie a kindhearted but oblivious little man who somehow got himself in a century old feud between two mythological species. But if he's the father of Bella, an obscure species all her own, then perhaps we haven't given him enough credit. After everything I've discovered about Bella—may she be an elf, mermaid, or witch—I've started to realize that things are never as they seem and there's always more to the picture. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if Charlie had known about us all along and was purposely trying to intervene to ameliorate the tension between the vampires and the werewolves.

Wait a minute. Charlie. If I can't read Bella's mind, then surely I can read Charlie's. He's perfectly human. He is bound to think about Bella and then he would most likely think about what creature she is, right?

I sneaked out of the house, although I'm sure everyone heard me, and sprinted in the direction of the Swan residence. It took me less than a minute. I slowed my pace as I entered her neighborhood, staying hidden in the shadows to not attract the attention of any neighbors. The house was in sight, Bella's ugly old truck comically parked in the driveway.

As I approached closer, Bella's fragrance drafted into my nose, slowly growing intensity with each step. Then I took another step which put me on their front yard and instantly, my whole body felt on fire, but times two hundred thousand. No other thoughts formed through my mind except that I was in unutterable pain and I need to get out now.

Shaking from pain far worse than anything I've ever experienced, I stumbled back until I was safe on the neighbor's property. It was amazing how such a short distance would cause so much difference. This could not be normal. Even though this is where Bella lived, there was no way the powerful aura could be concentrated just on the perimeter of her house.

She must have cast a spell on her house, I realized, to protect herself and her dad from vampires. I'd like to think that she did this a long time ago, before she really got to know me. I'd like to think that I made some improvement with Bella and she no longer hates me or wishes me to suffer in agony. I could be wrong.

My whole body was still aching in an echo from the previous shock of pain. Even my brain felt raw. I couldn't hear any thoughts coming from Charlie inside; I could barely hear the two neighbors' conversation going on just across the street. The distance and the spell created an impenetrable barrier and I dared not try and step near the house again.

With that, I stumbled my way back home.

_Were you with Bella AGAIN? _Rosalie asked as I walked into the house later that night. _Are you watching her sleep or something?_

"Of course not." It's not like I could, even if I tried. I'm never stepping anywhere near her house ever again. I messaged my throbbing arm, and trudged upstairs. "And she shall be the death of me."


	8. ocht

stay right here, rocketeer  
><em>chapter eight<em>

Through my bedroom window, I could see the Monday sun rising over the horizon and the forest of evergreens lit at an angle in the most brilliant greens. Across the entire Pacific Standard time zone, everyone was waking up, among which is that peculiar little sprite who clogs my every thought and the reason why some parts of my body were _still _sore.

I can't get her out of my head. She's like a freakin' virus.

I figured now would be a good time to jam out that essay that's due in English today. I went downstairs into the living room, turned on my laptop, and waited for it to load. We were reading _Wuthering Heights_ and were supposed to write a short paper on the themes. Five minutes later (three of the minutes of which was waiting for Microsoft Word to load), a perfect, finished paper was sent to the printer. Technically speaking, I had no incentive to even _try _in high school other than the fact that failing the eleventh grade at Forks High would be the embarrassment of the century.

As I got up to retrieve my paper, Alice came bounding down the stairs with my essay in her hands.

"Here you go." She handed it to me. "And yes, you can use the car."

"Huh?"

She only smiled. "Go give Bella a ride to school. Rosalie can drive the rest of us."

The thought hadn't even crossed my mind, yet.

"Shoo." Alice pushed me in the direction of the garage. "You don't want to keep her waiting."

* * *

><p>To say I was scared of driving to Bella's house was an understatement. I had to keep repeating to myself that I had driven to her house before, and that as long as I stayed in the car, on the road, and gave her driveway a wide berth, then I was safe.<p>

As I rounded on her street, I slowed the Volvo to a bare crawl as it slowly made its way to Bella's door. I parked on the side of her sidewalk and waited. I tried to hear into the house, but the spell she had cast also seemed to distort any noise, blocking me out completely.

That girl really did think of everything.

I was parked in front of their house for about five minutes when Bella pulled apart the window curtains. She gazed over the cloudy day and then her eyes widened when she saw my car parked up front. I felt silly to sitting inside the car because I could see her, but she couldn't see me. I thought about getting out of the car then, but that seemed awkward too. Nevertheless, Bella smiled and rashly shut her curtains. She was out the front door in four minutes flat. Pretty impressive if you asked me.

I rolled down the window as she approached my car with her book bag in hand. She was wearing another scarf today, but a knitted one instead of a cloth. It was blue and white striped and thin so that part of the necklace showed through underneath. As usual, she adorned a pair of boots; this time they were a pair of short black boots made of a suede fabric.

"Good morning," I greeted. I felt awful for not going over to open the passenger door for her, but doing so would require setting foot on the sidewalk which I was certainly not going to do.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"I figured you'd want a ride to school." Actually, this was Alice's idea, but shh.

She beamed and got in. Her closeness pushed a wave of burning sensations to my face but this subtle pain was almost pleasurable in comparison to the spell around her house. I was going to ask her about that when I realized she would get suspicious and then I would have to admit that I went to her house late Saturday night and _that _just brought weird and creepy to a whole new level.

"So how was Jacob?" I asked.

"Are we starting this already?" she complained.

"Starting what?"

"You know what."

I thought about it for a second. "…no, I really don't know what."

She played with a strand of hair. Why did she always leave her hair down? I mean her wavy, chestnut hair was pretty, yes, but it shielded her beautiful face. "I can't tell if you seriously have no clue or if you're purposely mocking me."

"Take my word, Bella. I'm absolutely clueless when it comes to you."

That seemed to satisfy her, for she settled into her seat and drew her legs up to sit cross-legged. I couldn't help thinking that the more areas she touched, the more my car will smell like her and I was unsure whether or not that was a bad thing.

The ride to school was peaceful and friendly, filled with our relentless bickering over the radio station. A steady downpour forced me to turn my windshield wipers to full blast. I pulled into the line of cars waiting to turn into the parking lot, all of their windshield wipers doing a frantic dance too.

Bella stared at the fat droplets of rain roll down her window. She groaned.

"You never told me why you didn't like water so much," I mentioned.

She clasped her hands together. "There's a lot I never told you."

I hated how everything about me was now exposed yet she kept herself half-way hidden. She had the advantage and I hated it. "Secrets don't make friends," I whined.

"Then we're not friends," she said flatly.

"We're not?" Then I realized that question made me sound like a desperate teenage boy fearing rejection so I quickly moved in to save my dignity. "That's too bad. Jessica will be disappointed."

There's that wonderful one-eyebrow up expression of hers again.

"She's so eager to hear all the juicy details about Saturday night," I explained. "I can hear her thoughts all the way out here."

"Oh man, what do I tell her?"

"That you are irrevocably in love with me."

"…?"

"No? Oh well, worth a shot."

Bella laughed. "I thought you were serious."

I laughed too. But a tiny part of me inside was broken because maybe (to some microscopic extent) I _was _serious.

"Let's not make Jessica too happy now," she said. "If we got together, I would never hear the end of it from her."

"I wonder what would happen if we put Jessica and Alice together in the same room."

"The world would explode."

"Yeah, probably."

I pulled into my normal parking spot. Rosalie's hey-everyone-look-at-me! convertible was parked beside me. Rosalie, Emmett, Jasper, and Alice had gone to their first class to avoid this nasty rain, as did most of the high school body, except for the swarm of teenage boys who squealed like baby piglets at the sight of Rosalie's ostentatious car.

I turned off the ignition and Bella and I got out. The others stared as Bella and I walked towards the school together.

_Are you kidding me? The Cullen douche is with Bella? _

I chuckled at the epithet. The Cullen douche. Nice.

_Forks finally gets a hot chick and Cullen just has to sweep in._

_Well there goes my chance with Bella._

_So Edward Cullen is not gay after all. Damn._

"Oh look, there's Jessica," Bella muttered.

Despite the heavy onslaught of rain, Jessica stood under the patio, semi-drenched, waiting for Bella. Bella stopped walking and I nearly collided into her, which would have caused many horrible consequences for me, indeed.

"What should I tell her?" she whispered. She stood close to me, perhaps too close for comfort, but the rain was helpful in alleviating the burning.

"Maybe you should just tell her we are dating. It would be easier than explain the truth, a truth that even I don't know the entirety of."

Her freckles on the corner of her eyes flickered from light to dark and she bit her bottom lip. "Fine. But I think you're just being bitter, Edward."

"I'll keep bugging you until you tell me!" I called after her as she hurried to meet Jessica.

"You have fun with that!" she called back.

I watched as she reached Jessica and the two talked animatedly while walking inside. To my dismay, Bella had been standing in all this rainwater yet she was still walking on two legs, no mermaid tail in sight. Well, my theory just went down the drain. Although, now that I look at it, Bella was a good head shorter than Jessica. Could Emmett possibly be correct? Bella Swan…is an elf?

* * *

><p>We were taking a test in calculus and I finished mine before the teacher finished passing out all the tests. I got a 92%, definitely above average, but not so high that it will arouse attention. So as I stared over my test and pretended to be working on it, I listened far into the classroom where Jessica and Bella were currently having a heart-to-heart. Jessica made it clear that she would be ruthlessly interrogating Bella until she got some answers and personally, I was with Jessica on this. If Bella wasn't going to answer to me, maybe she will to her human best friend.<p>

"Isabella Swan. You, Edward Cullen, start talking," she said.

"Okay, you really want to know?" Bella's voice was hushed and filled with excitement. She was a better actress than I thought. "Edward and I…are dating."

_I KNEW IT! _"That's so awesome! So what's he like?" She wiggled her eyebrows suggestively for good measure.

"Oh, you know. He's Edward Cullen."

"Yes, I do know," Jessica answered with frustration."But like…you like him then?"

Through Jessica's eyes, I watched Bella's freckles turn a deep ebony shade. "Yes."

I sighed in relief and a magnitude of weights was lifted from my shoulders. At the end of the day, even if all goes wrong and Bella happens to be a vampire slaying enchantress or something, well, at least I know she likes me.

"Aw…I'm so happy for you!" Jessica gushed.

"Yeah."

"So," Jessica lowered her voice, "has he kissed you yet?"

This question made me tense up. What would Bella say? What did she even feel? She knows that her presence alone is enough to cause me to become nauseous and the smallest touch is the worst agony I can imagine. It's nothing personal. It's not that I don't like her enough so I avoid contact. It's more of a self-preservation tactic. Surely she understands, right?

"It's not like that," Bella whispered. "Our relationship is…at odds."

"How come?"

"I'm different. He's different. We make a unique couple. It's complicated."

"But Bella, it's always complicated, even when it doesn't have to be."

* * *

><p>I didn't even bother to keep up the pretentions and buy a lunch today. The only other person not ignorant enough to notice was Bella, and she already knew of my diet plans. I sat at the table we sat at before and Bella soon sat down to join me.<p>

"Do people think I'm a slut?"

"Come again?" I heard exactly what Bella said, but the arbitrariness of her statement caught me off guard. The girl never failed to surprise me.

"You can read minds, right?" Bella said in a huff. "What are people thinking of me, right now?"

I scanned the cafeteria. "Well, your friends are thinking about how you were ditching them for me, but they forgive you because I'm so hot. Well, the girls forgive you. Mike and Eric want to pulverize me. The girls over there are jealous of you. The guys over there are jealous of me. And that girl…ooh, that's interesting, she was thinking about how it took a beautiful girl from sunny Phoenix to 'melt' the icy Cullens. That's pretty poetic."

I got Bella to smile a teensy bit. "I think you are filtering their thoughts too much."

"So maybe a few bitter girls are calling you names, why is that bothering you?" I asked. "You know they're only saying that stuff. Don't take it personally."

She lowered her eyes and her hair cast a shadow across her face. For a second, she actually looked human. "So no one is thinking about how I'm like my mother?" she whispered.

"No, I don't think the Forks High population made the connection yet. Even I hadn't made the connection yet."

"Well good." She leaned back in her seat, crossed her arms, and glared at some passing freshmen. Bella, bipolar as she already was, got extremely sullen whenever the topic of her mother came up. All this time I was trying to figure out what Bella was, I overlooked the entire back-story. I know nothing of Bella's childhood or history or family other than Charlie for that matter. It amazed me how long Bella's life could exist in the dark.

After you're a vampire for a while, you start to think that you know everything. And then some puzzle like Bella Swan walks into your life and suddenly you don't know anything at all.

"Bella," I said tentatively, "what happened to your mother?"

All I knew was what everyone else at Forks knew; young Charlie Swan took in a teenage girl who was lost and a few odd months later they were married and then, as sudden as she arrived, she was gone. No one even knew Charlie had a daughter until Bella showed up, seventeen years later.

At my question, her freckles immediately turned pitch black. Her face drained of color and her bottom lip quivered for a second before she bit down on it. Maybe I imagined it, but I felt the table and the chairs vibrating underneath me.

Concerned, I scooted across the table to the seat beside Bella. I saw that her hands were clenched in tight fists on her lap, her knuckles white as bones. I regretted ever bringing this sour topic up.

"Bella?"

She only shook her head and took a deep, shaky breath. She whimpered and my heart broke for her.

I reached over and put my hand over her clenched fist. Aching shocks scorched my entire arm but I ignored it the best I could.

The touch of my cold hand made Bella lift her head to stare at me in surprise. "What are you doing?" she whispered urgently. She tried to pull away but I refused to let go. "Aren't I hurting you?"

"Yes, this hurts so much that I can't think straight," I said. "But watching you suffer and not knowing what's wrong pains me even more."

After a few more failed attempts to pull her hand away, she sighed and opened up her hand palm up. I want to say that after we entwined our fingers, I felt sparks flying—but in reality, my arm was throbbing in matchless pain and threatening to fall off.

"I'm trying, Bella," I said. "You have to let me in. You have to give me some answers."

She looked at me with such a mix of emotions, but most of all, I saw fear. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "I really want to trust you. I really want to let myself believe that you're different from the others. I'm trying, too. But certain memories won't fade and some secrets I'm not ready to share yet. You don't understand."

"You're right. I don't understand. That's because you refuse to tell me anything." Forget the intensive torture I was enduring, I scooted even closer to her. "I know that some other vampires have mistreated you before and I know that you were probably raised thinking that vampires were the bad guys, the enemies. And there is nothing wrong with that, actually, since it's true. But you must have seen something good in me, because you've stayed all this time. Look, I'm not forcing you to do anything. It's just that you've had ample time to get the hell away from me but you chose to stay. I need to know what that means. I need to know that you trust me enough to stay, because I don't think I can handle it if you left now."

Her eyes were wide and unblinking.

_Don't be too forward, you idiot, _Alice criticized. _You're scaring her._

I knew holding her hand was a mistake. The pain was making me lose my common sense. Not only had I overwhelmed Bella with just exactly how I was feeling, I forgot my brothers and sisters were listening to the whole thing. Emmett and Rosalie were going to mock me for decades.

Just as I was about to open my mouth again to somehow take it all back, Bella spoke.

"Of course I'll stay."

…_Didn't see that coming, _Alice thought.

* * *

><p><strong>post script: <strong>next chapter is the dance and we find out bella is! thanks for reading :)


	9. naoi

stay right here, rocketeer  
><em>chapter nine<em>

I drove to Bella's house a bit too anxious for my own good. One, I was still afraid of going near her house after the previous, less-than-pleasant experience. Two, the whole scheme felt wrong. I was supposed to pick Bella up, bring her over to my house, formally introduce her to everyone, and then let Alice and Rosalie dress her up. It seemed like a superficial way to let Carlisle inspect this maybe fairy, maybe elf and let Alice and Rosalie strip her down to check for any abnormalities.

But as degrading as it was, I was also dying to find out the curious mystery of Bella. A small part of me also thought that if Bella was agreeing to this, then she must not be trying to hide. Which means she has nothing to hide.

And that in itself is more contradictory and confusing than anything.

I parked in front of the Swan residence, making absolute certain that all four tires were on the communal tar road and not the sidewalk of the property. Forget chivalry and ringing the doorbell with a rose bouquet, I stood beside my car, stiff as a plank, and dialed Bella's number. It's not my fault her house is vampire-proof. This was the first high school dance I've attended in half a century, and I'd rather have my senses attached, thank you.

She picked up on the second ring. "Hello?" The curtains to her bedroom opened and I saw her face peek out. She smiled radiantly when she saw me and I returned it. I snapped my phone shut, even though I hadn't spoken, and waited patiently for Bella to emerge from the front door.

After talking to her father, she opened the door and half-ran to me. She looked ready to knock me down with a hug and I was slightly disappointed she didn't.

"So I really don't have to bring anything?" she asked, her one eyebrow raised.

"Alice and Rosalie have everything you will possibly need and more," I replied.

Bella shrugged and walked to the passenger side of my Volvo. She was wearing a silver blazer, a white t-shirt, a pair of skinny jeans, her Danann Stone necklace, and a pair of high-tops instead of her usual boots. She has never looked more normal. All our theories were slowly being proven wrong one by one. How embarrassing would it be if Bella actually was just a human?

"That was a smart move to wait outside," she said and I began to drive. "Charlie would have torn you apart."

Yeah, well it's not like I had much of a choice.

"I think you'll be pleased to know that Carlisle is just the opposite," I said. "He can't wait to meet you. And Esme, well, she can't wait for you to join the family."

Bella's smile disappeared.

Too soon?

"Your family sounds lovely," she said.

I chuckled. "Just wait until you meet them."

We pulled into the hidden forest trail and parked in front of the house. Bella, as expected, was blown away by the grandeur of the place. I'm sure whatever vampires she's run into definitely did not have a million dollar house like we did. I quickly walked to her side of the car and opened the door for her.

"This house is beautiful," she exclaimed. "And I love that magnolia tree you have there."

"Oh, Esme loved magnolias when we lived in the south so we tried to plant one here but it didn't…work…" Only when I turned around to look at the dried up, shriveled tree that had frozen in the Washington cold, I saw a healthy, growing magnolia tree with beautiful purple flowers instead. "_That_ was not there a second ago," I noted.

"Huh, imagine that." Bella grinned and started heading to the door.

I had a new theory. She was a garden gnome.

It was odd not having Alice waiting for us; Alice can't see any future events involving Bella. But she did come bounding after she heard my car. Right after I opened the front door to let Bella enter, the entire family was gathered around, anxious like lab scientists to figure out this new species.

"Bella, this is my family," I introduced. "That's Emmett, Rosalie, you already know Alice, Jasper, my mother Esme, and my father Carlisle. Family, this is Bella."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, dear," Esme said as polite as she could. I could tell everyone was having a hard time breathing properly with Bella in such close proximity. As for Carlisle, his eyes kept darting down to stare at the pendant around Bella's neck. _That's the one, _he thought, _that's it exactly._

"Come on, Bella, it's time for us girls to get all dolled up for the dance," Alice said, her cheer a little drained from the smell. "You boys go play or something."

I watched Bella follow Alice and Rosalie upstairs to Rosalie's grand bathroom. It was awkward, Rosalie leading the way in a quick pace to be as far from Bella as possible. Alice smiled at Bella, thrilled that she was here but not quite able to tolerate the smell or the burning sensation.

"Dude," Emmett groaned after the bathroom door shut upstairs, "how do you stand this?"

In an instant, Emmett was outside breathing in the fresh air.

Jasper, Esme, Carlisle, and I joined him. "It's not too bad after you get used to it," I said like it was no big deal.

"I'll admit, I've never smelled a blood like that in all my years," Carlisle said. "What a peculiar scent indeed."

We stood outside for a while, Esme marveling at her newly revived magnolia tree. "She must be a forest nymph," Esme said.

"Yeah, the mermaid theory is not looking so good," I admitted.

"Witch," Jasper and Carlisle said together.

Emmett shook his head. "Just wait and see. She's totally an elf."

* * *

><p>Jasper, Emmett, and I took a minute to get dressed and waited at the foot of the stairs. Helping Bella with her hair was extremely difficult since Alice and Rosalie couldn't physically touch Bella's hair without being in unbearable pain. After two hours of patient, deft hands, and a long hair curler, Bella was finally finished.<p>

"They're coming," I announced to my brothers, having read Alice and Rosalie's minds. Esme stood ready with a camera.

The first down the stairs was Rosalie, dressed in a floor-length, scarlet silk dress. Her hair was kept down to "make it more casual" and Emmett wrapped his arms around her before she even made it to the last step. "Jerk," she muttered with a smile.

Then Alice descended the stairs in skips, something no one else with normal-leveled coordination could manage. She chose to wear one of her originals, a short, strapless, sea-foam green dress with an intricate, layered bottom and a giant black bow in the back. She skipped to Jasper, who was wearing a green tie that matched her dress color ridiculously well.

Finally, Bella walked down the stairs. Alice had chosen well: a deep indigo halter dress that hugged every curve Bella had, usually hidden in her layers of jackets. The dress stopped just above her knee and swished around her legs with every step. Her Danann stone necklace, a bright ruby red, contrasted with the dress but somehow, it worked. The ridiculously long time spent on Bella's hair was well worth it. Every last strand was curled to Alice-standard perfection and then pinned up in a decorative bun (how they managed that, I have no idea. Perhaps chopsticks or tongs were involved.) When her eyes met mine, the freckles by her eyes turned dark to match her dress. Are we sure she's not a vampire? Because she is kind of gorgeous.

_Her back, _Alice thought.

When we lined up to take a photo, I stood behind Bella and saw her perfectly bare back.

_No wings_. There goes the fairy theory.

I risked a glance at Bella's legs. They were smooth, skinny, and fit into a pair of golden heels to match her necklace. Nothing strange. No fins either.

We posed for a few more pictures, then Esme had us pair up for cheesy couple pictures. When Bella and I went up, I made a showing of resting my hand on the small of her back.

_Show off_, Rosalie rolled her eyes.

After the photo shoot, as everyone headed in the direction of the garage, I noticed Carlisle hang back in a sort of daze. All his old research from Scotland kept looping through his mind. _That stone, _he thought about Bella's pendant, _That stone…_

"Carlisle," I said, snapping him out of his stupor.

"Yes?"

"Look, I'll do my best to figure out what Bella is tonight. From the looks of it, Emmett just might win the bet." We shared a chuckle but it sounded polite and forced. Alice was screaming at me to hurry up from the garage.

"She sure looks like a Tuatha dé Danann. I would know a Danann Stone the second I saw one…" And the fantasy of holding the stone up to the moon and transforming into the coveted human once again took over Carlisle's mind. A few weeks ago, I would have been daydreaming along with him, imagining how great it would be to _live _again. But somewhere between the intense talk at lunch and Bella finally starting to trust me, something changed.

"But what difference does it make?" I said. "If Bella is an elf or a witch or a nymph, so what? What good will the knowledge do?"

Carlisle seemed taken aback by this. _Well, we could take the necklace and use it…_

I didn't know how important the necklace was to Bella; that was yet another subject she refuses to elaborate on. Yet if she wears it every day and became murderous when I mentioned it the first day, it must have some value to her, even if only sentimental.

_EDWARD! _Alice screamed.

I began walking towards the garage, but turned back to face Carlisle one last time. "We're not forcing Bella to do anything, Carlisle. No matter what."

It occurred to me right then, seeing the flabbergasted expression on Carlisle. Perhaps this is what made Bella so weary of vampires. There are many vampires in this world that desire to be human more than anything. And some would do anything to get it. The fact that even Carlisle—saint-like, compassionate Carlisle—could be swept up in the dream enough to regard Bella as a tool and not a soul proved just how cruel vampires really are by nature.

I opened the garage door and let it slam behind me. Jasper was the only one to pick up my slightly peeved mood. He only gave me a questioning glance and calmed me.

"There you are, Edward," Alice said. "Now we can finally leave."

They started piling into Jasper's car but all made a face when Bella moved to follow. They quickly smiled to hide it, of course, but Bella saw the grimaces. Her freckles turned dark again and she bit her bottom lip. She was offended. Great going, guys.

"We'll take this one," I said, leading her to Carlisle's car.

"Why are we driving separately?" she asked, insecurity written all over her face. "Do they…"

"They love you," I reassured, "they're just not adjusted to your…smell, yet."

"I smell?"

"No, no, not like that! It's nothing personal or hygienic," I quickly corrected, cursing my fat mouth. "Okay, so you know how every human's blood smells slightly different? There's like a hierarchy of pleasurable smells to a vampire. At the top are humans, and even the worst smelling human blood ranks higher than, say, mountain lion blood. Then bears, then elk, then birds. And then, at the bottom, there's you."

Bella made a disgusted face. "So my blood stinks to you?"

"I wish. No, your blood does way more than stink. Just inhaling it makes my nose and throat sting until my whole body becomes pained and numbed. The burning feeling then travels to my brain and if I'm around you long enough, I stop functioning properly."

"Oh. I had no idea just my smell could do that. Uh, sorry?"

I laughed. "Don't apologize, the more I'm with you, the better it gets. Everyone else is just not used to your presence yet. Please don't be offended."

"Well then," she sat down in the passenger seat of the car, "I don't want to make them uncomfortable."

The drive to the dance was relaxed. Not only was Bella physically more revealed, it seemed shedding her idiosyncratic jacket, boots, and scarf ensemble also shed part of the wall she had built up long before she ever set foot in Forks. I was doing it. I was finally doing it. I was getting Bella to open up to me.

"So, Emmett thinks I'm an elf?" she asked, laughing with her head thrown back.

I smiled. "In his defense, you are pretty short."

"I'm 5 feet and a half!" As if that justified anything.

"I'm 6 feet," I countered. "And a half."

"Right, whatever. What do the rest of your family think I am, I'm very curious."

"Most of them stick to the theory that you're a witch, straight out of a Harry Potter book."

"Damn, you figured me out," she said sarcastically. "I'm a Ravenclaw."

"Pssh. Hufflepuffs for the win."

"No one likes Hufflepuffs. They serve no purpose except for being the fourth house. Their existence is completely meaningless."

I laughed, enjoying this new charismatic, sardonic Bella.

"What do _you _think I am?" she asked, after we had settled our differences over the houses of Hogwarts.

I sighed. "Promise not to laugh?"

"Eh, I'll try."

I gave her the best imitation of her one eyebrow raise thing before continuing. "For a while, I was convinced you were a mermaid."

Evidently, she didn't try hard enough for she cracked up at my confession. "A mermaid? Are you serious?"

"Think about it!" I cried. "You told me you didn't like water because it reminded you of your failure. I thought you were a mermaid who sucked at swimming or something so that's why you escaped to land to live with your father. And when you moved the van, you melted the ice, which is another water element. When you went to La Push, you avoided the water and talked to Jacob instead."

"It's winter! Of course I wouldn't swim."

I frowned. "Hey, it was a logical argument at the time."

By then, we had arrived at the school. The dance was being held in the gymnasium. Some cheap decorations, colorful lighting, and a DJ were enough to carry the mood. I got out and opened Bella's door for her. After all the touching earlier, Bella assumed it okay to grab my hand as she stepped out of the car. It hurt like hell. But I didn't let go.

"The others are already inside," I announced. Alice and Rosalie were making quite a scene, actually.

"Till the World Ends" began to blast through the speakers. People were throwing their hands up, all over the place, going whoa-oh-oh.

"I love this song!" Bella exclaimed, then dragged me inside. The left side of my body was already searing in pain just from holding her hand. It took too much effort to not think about the ache and focus on moving my legs to keep up with Bella. We made our way to the middle of the mob of high school dancers and Bella proceeded to _press her body _against mine as the crowd pushed closer. The beats of the song, the lights, and the pain all became an unfeeling blur.

* * *

><p>"Edward?"<p>

I heard Rosalie's footsteps approach where I sat on the picnic bench outside the gym.

"Hi Rose," I said, rubbing my head.

"Why are you out here alone?"

"I needed to cool down. Bella is killing me in there. When I said I could handle her touch, I think she took that as an okay for complete physical contact. She thinks I'm much stronger than I actually am."

Rosalie moved to sit beside me, but quickly leaped back like I repelled her. "Ach, were you making out with her? You stink of Bella."

I groaned. The scent wouldn't go away and as long as it stuck around, so did the pain.

"Are you going to be alright?" she asked, actually concerned for once. I guess I looked worse than normal. "Take it easy, Edward."

She left me alone then. _I'm going to get Bella_. I did my best to do some deep breathing and clear my mind.

"_Pian pian imigh s__é_ _teacht chun solais_."

Suddenly, the ache diminished into a small pain in the back of my mind. I turned around to find Bella standing with a sly smile on her face.

"Did you just cast a spell on me?" I asked, bewildered that she cared enough to do that.

"Something like that," she nodded. "It won't take the pain away completely, but it should dilute it some. Why didn't you tell me I was hurting you? I had to find out through Rosalie."

"I enjoy being with you," I said. "The pain, not so much."

She slowly walked towards me. Because of her heels, her head came up to just above my shoulder. Cautiously, she reached up and placed her palm on my cheek. There was a slight singe and I winced, but the spell made it bearable.

"Everything I do only hurts you," she whispered. "Am I really worth it?"

I answered in a heartbeat. "Definitely."

A slow song came on back in the gym. I took Bella's hand and led her back inside. If we kept the contact to a minimum, it was going to be fine. As we swayed to the beat while Alice and Jasper twirled around us, I noticed Bella's ears for the first time. In retrospect, Bella had worn her hair down every single day, covering her ears. Now her hair was in a loose bun, still covering the top of her ears, but one strand of hair was coming undone and revealed her right ear…

I had discovered an abnormality at last.

I brought my hand up and tucked the loose strand behind her ear, brushing the excess hair out of the way in the process. Bella froze when she realized what was happening, but didn't move to stop me.

"And you said you weren't an elf," I said.

The tips of her ears elongated to a point a good two or three times longer than the average human ear. It looked like the ears that Christmas elves are portrayed to have. And at the very tip were three more freckles, just like the ones on the corner of her eyes.

"I'm not an elf," she stated.

"Then what are you?"

Her eyes twinkled in the flashing lights. "I'm not a mermaid either. Or a witch."

"What else is there?"

But she only smiled and continued to sway with me, keeping a respected two feet apart.

* * *

><p>"So?" Esme asked expectantly after I arrived home from dropping Bella off. Everyone crowded around me waiting for the mystery of the century to be revealed. Too bad they were going to be disappointed.<p>

"Emmett is wrong. I'm wrong. Jasper, Rosalie, Carlisle, and Esme are wrong too. That's all she told me," I announced.

Alice perked up. "Does that mean I'm right?"

I thought about Bella, standing in all her glamour in the poorly decorated school gym, looking at me like there was nowhere else she'd rather be. Her wingless back, her human appearance, her triangular ears…was she really a _fairy_?

"She didn't say," I answered. "Actually, I didn't ask."

"Honestly, I don't care what she is," Esme said with a smile. "Isn't it so fascinating that she's magical?"

In a sense, the dance was a success. More truths were revealed and Bella and I have never been closer. Yet we still didn't know what Bella was, what her history was, and how vampires were involved. She was an unsolved case and I needed to get to the bottom of it.

My family dispersed throughout the house after I shared my disappointedly lacking amount of information. I caught Carlisle's eyes as he turned to head to his office. We were still bitter from the previous argument. _The stone. It's so close, _he thought wistfully. I shook my head sternly.

I was about to go upstairs to my room when Alice stopped me.

"You love her," she stated.

"What?"

"I may not be able to see if you and Bella have a future together, but I have my hunches. You two could be together forever. Don't mess this up, Edward."

And with that, she turned on her heel, and skipped off.

"Thanks?"

* * *

><p>I sat in my room busily scribbling revisions to my newest composition. Esme's birthday was coming up and Alice dropped a little hint that Esme is going to love my new song for her. I had composed most of the piece earlier today on the piano when Esme and Carlisle were out hunting, so now I just had to put it to paper and fix a few glitches.<p>

There was a tapping sound from behind me but when I turned around, there was nothing. Just an open evening sky through the windows. I turned back to the composition, penciling in the final cadence.

I heard the noise again, coming from behind me. I spun around quicker than I could blink and there, hovering right outside my window, was Bella.

…what.

She wasn't hanging off a ledge, as there was no ledge to hang off of. She wasn't standing in a nearby tree, as there were no nearby trees to stand on. No, she was _floating in midair _right outside my window. Upon seeing me, she tried to descend and hide, but then she figured it was no use—I already saw her. Slowly raising back up so we were staring eye to eye, with only a thin glass window between us, she gave a feeble smile and wave. _Hey, _she appeared to say, _this is me._

Not quite believing my own eyes, I made me way to the window in one stride and opened it. "How…what…you…?" I glanced all around, looking for some explanation, any explanation.

Her Danann Stone glistened in the moonlight.

"I can fly," she said with a shrug.

"No wings?"

"No wings."

Shit, she really was a fairy. Alice was right all along. Figures.

"But you're not tiny," I pointed out, showing the typical size of a fairy with my hands.

"No, I'm not."

She was waiting for me to say it. She was knocking down the final walls. She was going to tell me what she was. The wind blew her hair and her ears came into view.

I took a breath. "Tuatha dé Danann?"

She nodded. The bricks were falling fast, the walls crumbling right before my eyes.

"I know what you are, then."

"Say it."

"Fairy."

She smiled. Walls still remained and some secrets still need to revealed, but right now, she has never been more exposed, more vulnerable, more beautiful. _This is who I am, _she was saying with her eyes, _I trust you. I'm yours._

I reached out and pulled her in through the window, wrapping my arms around her tight.


	10. deich

It became a sort of contest to see whose eyes could widen the biggest when they found out Bella and I were officially an item. Charlie definitely won by a long shot. Mike came in second and according to Bella, Jacob was a close third.

It was all amusing, really. The vampire and the fairy. It sounded like a childhood fairytale gone terribly wrong—or terribly right.

* * *

><p>"I have a surprise for you," I said as I picked her up at her house next Saturday morning.<p>

"What kind of surprise?"

"A surprising one."

She gave me that one eyebrow raised look I've grown to adore. "Har har. Alright, let me go inside to get a jacket. You want to come in?"

I stared at the sidewalk in front of me like it was molten lava. Yeah, uh, that would be a _no._ She walked a few steps before she realized I wasn't following.

"Hey Bella, you didn't happen to have put a protective charm against vampires around your house, did you?" I asked, trying to sound casual.

Understanding lit up her eyes. "OH! Sorry." She uttered a counter-spell and I could physically sense the barrier was lifted. Still, I took a cautious step onto the pavement to make sure it was safe.

"Sorry again. I put it up after I first met you. I didn't know you then, so I freaked out at the thought that vampires were in Forks. I was paranoid that you were all after me. I forgot all about it. But how did you know?" she asked.

"A few weeks ago, I found out the hard way." Please don't ask me why I was at your house a few weeks ago.

"Why were you at my house a few weeks ago?"

Damn it. "Let's get that jacket of yours," I said, shoving the subject aside and marching into her house. She laughed behind me.

Bella's house was small, cozy, and just the right level of messy. The light from the kitchen window lit up the house and gave it a happy, yellow aura. Bella skipped to the couch and picked up her knit sweater. Then she headed to the closet where she put on her grey boots.

I noticed how she didn't wear a scarf. In fact, all week since the dance, she hadn't worn a scarf. There was nothing to hide anymore. I rejoiced at this victory.

She left a note for Charlie and then we walked back outside. She suddenly stopped to turn and look at me with a bright eagerness. "Can I drive?"

That was the first time I learned that no matter what the circumstance, I could never say no to Bella. Quite pathetic, really.

* * *

><p>We parked where the road ended and got out of her loud brick of a truck. With another disdained look at the overcast sky, I climbed out of the car. Bella smiled at me and started heading in the wrong direction before I grabbed her hand to pull her back. And I would have gladly held on longer to her hand if it wasn't for the current of pain pulsing up my arm like.<p>

"I said there was a trail, not that we were going to use it," I said, nodding towards the thick forest no backpacker dares to hike.

Instead of fear, her eyes turned intuitive. "Where exactly are we going?" she asked.

"It's a surprise."

Her eyes narrowed. "I don't like surprises," she muttered angrily. I chuckled at her childish behavior, which probably wasn't the right thing to do. "Fine then, I'll just find out for myself."

She turned her head in every direction, but we were the only ones within sight. With a small grin, she jumped ever so slightly into the air. Before I could register what was going on, she was already twenty feet in the air, her arms spread wide as she flew with the wind. You would think that seeing a person floating midair would be weird and out of place. Yet watching Bella twirl in the air was like watching a ballerina on stage. _She belonged there_. I watched in awe as she willingly let me see her fairy instincts. The way she didn't' move against the wind but moved with it, it made me feel very left-footed in comparison.

"Are we going to that meadow?" she shouted back at me. She had flown almost fifty feet in the air now.

I crossed my arms in mock irritation. "Way to ruin the surprise, Bella!"

Laughing, she angled herself downwards and flew to me. She paused when she was eyelevel with me, which meant she was still floating a few inches off the ground. Unsheltered excitement gleamed in her brown eyes.

"Sorry, Edward," she apologized with a pout that I was certain could stop any war.

I sighed. "It's fine. Ready to go?"

A wicked smirk appeared on her face. "How about…I race you?"

Ha. She wanted to _race _me? Walking-on-air pixie is mental. "Bella—" I started.

"Never underestimate a fairy," she said, flying a little closer to my face. Even the proximity was enough; the familiar burn was starting on the tip of my nose. Naturally, I should have taken a step back. But somehow, the pain was causing an opposite effect on me. Good thing my arms were still crossed over my chest or else I may have been tempted to stroke her lovely face.

And suddenly, she was gone. The only signifier that she had been hovering over my face just a moment ago was the breeze that whipped my face from her mad dash. I squinted in the sky to see her figure disappearing in the cloudy sky.

She really was fast.

But I'm still faster.

I sprang forward and sprinted through the trees. What would have taken a human a few hours to hike, I could cover in three minutes. Maybe two if I tried. I sneaked a glance up towards the sky to see Bella still flying before me. Since I was hidden under all these trees, she wouldn't be able to see me coming so I had the advantage. A smile curved on my lips as I ran.

Coming to a stop in the middle of the grassy meadow, I spun around just in time to see Bella flying down for the land. Her eyes widened when she saw me which made me laughed. That's right, silly fairy. Never underestimate a vampire.

In order to avoid landing on top of me, she stuck her hands out in front of her to stop. Personally, I liked the idea of being her landing mat, so I opened my arms ready to catch her. Although her arms were flailing all over the place now, even she couldn't control the laws of inertia. An object in motion stays in motion until acted upon by another force—

"Oomph."

She collided into me and actually knocked me to the ground. I was expecting a lightweight drop as she fell into my arms. Instead, she crashed into me going forty miles an hour, a force I was unprepared for.

I landed on a soft patch of flowers and grass; Bella, however, landed on the stony surface called my body. The electrocuting pain that seared everywhere our skins touched was the least of my concerns. "Bella? Are you alright?"

She slowly moved and repositioned herself so she was laying flat over me, the back of her head resting on the crook of her neck, her legs resting on the ground on either side of me, and her back fitting perfectly against my chest and stomach. Screw the burning ache, I wasn't moving.

"Edward," she groaned, bringing a hand to her forehead. "I think I hit my head against you abs of steel."

I was in hysterics. After she continued to rub her head, I figured it must be more than a minor bruise so I quickly offered her my cold hand to serve as an ice pack. She gladly took it and placed my palm against her forehead. As if the blazing pain from her forehead wasn't enough, she soon placed her hand over mine, like holding the ice pack in place even though she knew I wouldn't move. With her lying on top of me, this was the most I've ever touched Bella at one time and the pain was so strong that I was practically numb, yet I didn't dare ask her to move. I was starting to enjoy the pain, in a complete non-depressed, self-inflicted harm kind of way.

"Hey Bella," I whispered, inhaling her contradicting scent of sweet pea that burned my nose.

"What?"

"I won."

"…shut up."

"Vampire 1, Fairy 0."

She reached over and thwacked my head.

We lay like that, our bodies all entwined for a few moments before Bella randomly flew up to sit ten feet away from me in the meadow.

I sat up and gave her a questioning look. "What are you doing?"

"I was burning you again. And you didn't say anything. Again."

"I'm fine, really. Get back over here."

Uncertain but still complying, she flew up to sit next to me, not touching but close enough.

"So how does it work? How do you fly?" I had brought Bella here for answers and that's what I planned on getting.

She shrugged. "Magic. There's really no other explanation. Whenever I have the stone, I feel light and a simple jump could get me ten feet in the air. I have to be extremely careful while walking at school."

"So, like fairy dust?"

She made a face. "Modern culture has completely obscured the vision of fairies. We're not miniature, we don't have butterfly wings, and we don't wear dresses made of leaves or flower petals. I'm assuming you know the story of Tuatha dé Danann?"

"Carlisle knew a little of it, but his information is lacking."

"Okay then, story time."

I criss-crossed my legs and turned to face her, giving her my undivided attention. She smiled at my actions.

"Long ago, the Celtic islands were inhabited by the People of Peace, also known as sidhe. The term sidhe included fairies, elves, mermaids, werewolves, selkies, nymphs, leprechauns, satyrs, and laves— basically your classic fairytale medley. Even vampires. Humans lived amongst the sidhe too. They all lived in harmony with nature and magic. There were ten large Danann Stones that was at the heart of ten major towns of the sidhe. These stones were the source of all their magic. When the sidhe wanted to explore neighboring lands, they created these amulets which would bring the magic along with them.

"Using these portable necklaces, the sidhe ventured into today's England and northern Europe. Did you know that Merlin was descended from fairies? Anyway, the People of Peace were just another ancient civilization, minding their own business, when the Gaels came along. These men were different from the native humans the sidhe were accustomed to. The Gaels were fierce, brutal, and wanted to conquer the islands. The sidhe tried to put up a fight, but the Gaels just about annihilated the race."

"But what about magic?" I interrupted. It seemed like the sidhe had the undefeatable advantage.

Bella shook her head sadly. "The Gaels unknowingly had the one thing that was our weakness: iron."

"Iron?"

"Iron cancels out the power of the Danann Stone. An otherwise harmless scratch from an iron blade can kill. The Gaels' iron-tipped spears ruined the sidhe. In the middle of catastrophe, when only a tenth of the original population remained, the goddess Danu presented herself to her people. She advised the fairy queen to lead all the People of Peace underground to hide from the Gaels' slaughter. So the last living sidhe took their Danann Stones and traveled under the hills and created the Otherworld. They've been a hidden people ever since."

"So all this time, magical creatures have existed underground?"

"Yep."

"Carlisle says the entrance is concealed by magic."

"That is true. Only the sidhe can find the right hill and enter. The only way mortals or other creatures can enter the Otherworld is if they have a silver bough given by another sidhe."

The simple fact that Bella was fearlessly telling me _everything _was enough to wrap my mind around. The past month that I've known her, I've gotten used to her cold shoulder, harsh glares, and reluctance to share anything. She really changed her mind about me. I made her change her mind.

"And how do vampires play into this?" I asked, albeit reluctant for the answer.

"For centuries, vampires have been after us to take our Danann Stone. Even before the Gaelic Wars, vampires had been attempting to use the stone. That's why when the Otherworld was created, vampires were banned. They just want to be human again, and are willing to do whatever it takes. At first, it was just several scout fairies sent to this world that got attacked by vampires. But then, a group of vampires in Wales somehow got a silver bough and intruded the Otherworld entrance there. They stole the entire Welsh Danann Stone. And without the stone, the sidhe were no longer immortal and died. Same thing happened later to Cornwallis and Island of Man. Ireland and Scotland are the only Tuatha dé Danann populations left."

"That's horrible." The worst part was that Carlisle had been one of those heartless vampires—and perhaps he never got over it. This is exactly what I had been afraid of. If the others, namely Carlisle, wanted to be human so badly, were they willing to hurt Bella in the process?

"Wait…" I said as I processed her words, "you're _immortal_?"

"Well, not exactly immortal. More like eternally young. Sidhe never die of old age as long as there's the stone, but we're not indestructible like you."

"Then how old are you?"

"Seventeen." She smiled wickedly.

I rolled my eyes. "No, seriously."

"I am serious, actually. I really am seventeen years old. Renee really did run away with me seventeen years ago, everyone in Forks knows. Of course, Renee was quite old. I think she was seventy years old, but she looked eighteen. Speaking of age, how old are you?"

"Sevent—"

"_Edward._"

"Fine. I was born 1901."

"…ew."

I gave her a playful glare but inside, I was only thinking one thing. Bella is eternally young. If I protect her, which obviously I will, she will never die. _We could be together forever_. Just like Alice said. I was thoroughly elated at this fact, and that scared me. Did I really want to be with Bella? _Yes. _Was I ready for long-term commitment? _Yes. _Does that mean I love her?

_Hell yes._

"What happened? To Renee?" I asked. This was the last mystery that hung between Bella and me. After this, everything would be completely out in the open.

Bella bit her bottom lip, the freckles on the corner of her eyes and ears darkened, and her eyes clouded. For a second, I thought she was going to shy away from me again. Instead, she closed her eyes and lay down on the grass beside me. I watched her and her deep breathing until she finally opened her bright eyes.

"So you know how vampires have been attacking the Otherworld? Well, twenty years ago, a group raided through the entrance in Ireland and stole away with a large chunk of the Danann Stone there. Ireland served as the capital of the Otherworlds, in a sense, so the queen was worried. The remaining piece of the stone would be enough to sustain, but they were inching towards danger zone. So the queen sent out seven scouts to find the werewolves."

It all clicked now. La Push. The Quileute tribe. Jacob.

"During the Gaelic Wars, the werewolves weren't expelled from the Otherworld, they just opted to fight the Gaels instead of hide. Werewolves, after all, were the strongest sidhe. Even they could not defeat the humans though, so they wandered out into this world. Before they left, however, they made a pact with the fairy queen that if there was any trouble in the Otherworld, the werewolves would come to aid. The problem is it's been centuries and now we really need the werewolves' help, but we can't find them.

"Renee was one of the seven scouts sent to find the werewolves. Soon, the first six scouts were already dead, killed by vampires so they could take the amulet. Renee was following some trace on the werewolves when she found Forks. She fell in love with Charlie there and confided everything in him. It was Charlie who told her of the legends of the Quileute tribe and his best friend Billy. But before Renee had the chance to investigate more, some vampires appeared. She had no choice. She flew and fled Forks, and my father, forever.

"We settled in Phoenix and that's where I grew up. Because I was born outside of the Otherworld, there was no Danann Stone necklace available for me. So Renee gave me hers. I lived seventeen years with Renee in Phoenix, trying and failing to find any trace of werewolves there. And then…"

A tear rolled down her cheek. I gently placed my hand on hers.

"…the vampires came," she continued. "Before then, I had never seen a vampire in real life. I remember the blood red eyes, the disheveled hair, and the frightfully cold skin. They wanted our Danann Stone, the one I was wearing around my neck. It was difficult, of course. The necklace is charmed so only the fairy wearing it can take it off. In the end, Renee knocked them aside and I flew out the door and far away. Hours later, I finally had the courage to fly back down, only to find the red lights of the police as they brought out the bloody body of my mother."

Silent sobs racked Bella's body. How could this beautiful soul endure such pain?

"They sent me to live with Charlie. I never even knew my father. I was not only a stranger in this new town but also a stranger in my own home. Then I met you."

"You knew I was a vampire from the beginning," I concluded.

"I recognized the signs, but your yellow eyes threw me off. It wasn't until you pointed out my amulet did my suspicions get confirmed. Only as it turned out, you had no idea what that amulet even was."

I smiled. "Vampires aren't always bad, you know."

She smiled too. "I know now."

"Is that why you were so cold towards me? Is that why you assumed I pushed Tyler's car at you?"

She nodded bashfully.

I thought over everything she said. "What do you mean only the fairy wearing the necklace can take it off?"

"Try to take this off."

I reached to the back of Bella's neck and felt for a clasp, only there was none. It was too small to lift over her head, so I tried ripping it apart. Yet the gold chain remained perfectly intact.

"Then how do vampires steal it?" I asked.

Her eyes darkened. "Decapitation."

It made sense, in a demented way. Ripping off the head would make it possible to take the necklace. I cringed, then became outraged. Outraged that my kind tried to hurt Bella. Outraged that they did hurt her mother. Outraged because I _could _hurt her if I tried.

"This is so wrong," I admitted.

"What is?"

"Us." Every single moment I spend with Bella, I always have to be extremely cautious. She's fragile. One wrong move and I'll break her.

Her eyes widened in alarm. "Why would you say that?"

"I really shouldn't have made the effort to befriend you, Bella," I confessed. "If I was sensible, I would have let our relationship continue the way it was, full of cold shoulders and death glares. It was much safer that way."

"Edward…" she said softly. Her expression was warm, apologetic, and most of all sad at my words. She wanted me too. And while that fact made me pleased on the inside, I knew this made it wrong on a whole new level.

"We come from different worlds. Literally. Your people live one with nature, and you exist for the sole purpose of making the world a better place. My people, on the other hand, live as predators, and we exist for the sole purpose of hunting humans. While fairies are caring, ecological, and genuine good folks, vampires are filled with thirst, greed, and hatred. You are a friend to all creatures and I an enemy. You wear a pendant to protect yourself from me," I listed on and on. While I talked, Bella had curled up with her face half buried in her knees. "You are inhumanely beautiful because you are inhumanely kind. My looks, and smell for that matter, are all for an entirely different usage."

"What do you mean?" Her face was etched with confusion.

"Everything about me draws you in," I said. "I was going to show you what happens to me in the sun today, but weather had other plans."

"Wait, really?" Her voice contained unnecessary anticipation. "Well I can help with that."

Successfully amazing me yet again, she stood up and reached her hands up towards the sky. She arched her back and stood on her toes, her fingers pointed at the clouds. After closing her eyes, she twisted her hand in the way I've seen her do and slowly drew her arms apart. "_Bolg__la__gréin__a__dhéanamh__._"

Even though I was expecting it, I still couldn't believe the sight. Under Bella's command, the grey clouds pulled apart and a few streaks of sunshine were allowed passage onto the meadow. Immediately, my skin reflected the light with a million diamonds, but Bella's eyes were still closed so she didn't see.

She spun around with her left foot as the pivot, her right foot swinging out in perfection, and her arms dropped to her side. The clouds were only parted enough so that sunlight only shined on this meadow. That way, the rest of Forks won't marvel at the sudden weather change. It was Bella and me in our own little sunlit world.

"You can control the weather. Of course," I stated. "Is there anything you can't do?"

She was about to answer when she opened her eyes and saw me in all my sparkly glory for the first time. Her mouth formed into a small O. Finally, a reasonable reaction.

"You…you…you're…" she stuttered. How cute. "You're shiny."

"Oh really? I didn't notice!" I feigned surprise as I looked down at my arm.

She gave me a glare and sat back down, cross-legged, in front of me. She stared at me for a while before she stretched out her hand. But then she abruptly pulled it back. I gave her a questioning glance.

"Sorry. It's nothing," she whispered, her face flushing red. I laughed. "So this is why vampires can't come out in the sun? Not that you'll burn, but because you'll…sparkle?"

I shrugged. "We aim to be as less conspicuous as possible. Imagine me going to school like this." She chuckled and I did too. "But really, Bella, you've never seen a vampire in sun before? You seemed very knowledgeable about our kind when you were convinced I was out to get you when we first met."

"Will you quit bringing that up?" she said with a punch. "No, I've never seen a vampire in sunlight. I've seen vampires only three times and it was always night time when they attacked. Huh."

Just thinking about Bella in any potential danger outraged me. How could those vampires be so savage? You don't _attack _fairies; they're practically angels. It's just wrong.

"I will never be one of them," I promised. I reached out and took her warm hand in mine. I didn't even have to stop myself from flinching this time, the spasm never came.

She smiled and the freckles by her eyes danced. "I know."

"Still, that doesn't mean I'm not dangerous," I pointed out. "It would be too, too easy to kill you."

"True…" she trailed off, and then smirked. "But then again, I could say the same."

It took me a long time to register what she said. Because she honestly couldn't mean what I think she means, right?

"Um, what?" I finally chocked out.

She smiled, a glint of malice in her eyes. This was all new to me. I wasn't used to being surprised. I guess I didn't like surprises either. "Edward, don't you know?" she teased. "I can kill you too."

I blinked twice. I still didn't get the blatant words she was throwing at me. Kill? Me? _Too_? I've never felt so incompetent my entire life. I mean, how could this petite, precious, sent from heaven _faerie _be a murderer? Like me? What?

"If a fairy is strong, is wearing a powerful amulet, and has the right powers, then he—or she—can ultimately kill a vampire. Of course, we're not nearly as strong as you beasts. And it does help if the vampire is weak, or thirsty, or confused…" She got up on her knees and started leaning towards me. I remained frozen, still stuck on her words. Then her forehead brushed against mine, ever so slightly, but the scorch was enough to make me distracted completely.

"…or charmed?" I asked, staring into her hazel eyes. Maybe she was right. With Bella around, I could be decapitated and not even know it.

She giggled and nodded. "Yes, you would make for an easy kill I'll admit."

"I don't see how that's possible. No offense, but what are you going to do? Magically send a van my way? Change the weather on me?"

"Of course not. What's the one way the undead die?"

I raised an eyebrow at her. "You're going to rip my head off?"

She laughed at the absurdity and I wanted to melt in the sound. The little fairy has me wrapped around her finger and I knew it. After her laughter died down, she turned to look me in the eyes. "If I attempted that, you would only laugh. I'm stronger than the average human, but I'm not that strong."

To prove her point, she put her palms against my chest and tried to push me down. Even after getting on her feet and leaning all her weight onto me, I still remained in my original position. I didn't move an inch. Her two palms on me were scorching my skin, through the thin material of my shirt. In one swift move, I brought my hands up to her locked elbows and bent them. Since she had been leaning all her weight against me, once her arms were bent, she fell onto my lap.

"That's the second time you've fallen on me today," I noted, amusement evident in my voice.

"No fair," she said.

I pulled her legs up close until she sat cradled in my lap. I tucked her hair behind, revealing her ear. With my finger, I traced the entire length of her ear all the way to the freckles. I smiled and kissed her ear, burning my lips in the process.

"So how do you kill me?" I asked.

She seemed to have forgotten our previous conversation entirely. "Oh. Um, you never answered my question correctly. Even if you rip a vampire's arm off, he would still be living. What is the only way to completely destroy a vampire?"

The answer hit me and I wondered how on earth I didn't think of it sooner. "Fire."

She winked and held out her hand. Twisting her wrist, a small spark ignited a small flame in the center of her palm. The orange flame then grew into a torch-sized fire inches away from my face. Unintentionally, I cringed away from it.

"Never underestimate a fairy," she repeated her earlier words.

"So let's say you get that flame on me," I said. "Couldn't I just put it out? Or jump in a river? Fire needs oxygen, so if I run really fast, it will get extinguished."

"That's normal fires. This is a magical fire. You can't put it out," she said. Suddenly, she snapped her hand shut and the fire was gone. "Except with more magic!"

A magical flame that was inextinguishable? Okay, the rational fear was starting to arise.

"That's why only elemental or fire-talent fairies get chosen for the guard. They are our only line of defense. The fire is our one and only weapon. It guarantees a nice, slow, painful death."

"How lovely," I muttered.

"Oh that reminds me, I'm burning you again, aren't I?" she exclaimed. She started to get out of my lap but I immediately wrapped my arms around her and trapped her.

"It's fine. I'm used to it now. I actually kind of like it," I admitted.

She looked at me incredulously. "They say the burning sensation you feel is just like the pain you'll get from the real fire. It's supposed to be a warning."

I frowned, still not letting go of her. "I guess I am a pyromaniac."

Her eyes sparkled then and she turned to face me. "I have an idea." Slowly, she reached to the back of her neck and unclasped the necklace, finding the hook that wasn't there for me. I looked at her curiously while she removed her pendant and set it on the grass beside us.

I was about to ask her what that was for when I felt it. The ever-present pain was vanished. The places on my leg where her skin touched no longer stung. In experiment, I placed my hand on her arm. Nothing. No pain. Just Bella.

_The stone also protects me from vampires._

I nearly jumped. I heard Bella's voice, but her mouth hadn't moved. Either she was a skilled ventriloquist or I just heard her thoughts.

_That's why you couldn't read my thoughts. That's why Alice can't see my future and Jasper can't control my emotions. That's why one little touch from me burns you._

It was her one line of defense and she was taking it away.

_I don't need it right now. Not with you._

My eyes darted from hers to the discarded necklace. It would be easy, much too easy, to snatch it and run; Bella wouldn't be able to catch me. It would be too easy to hold it to the moon and then my whole family could return to being human. Too easy.

But she trusted me enough to lay it there. And I wasn't going to betray her trust.

"You know," I said, "it was the fact that I couldn't hear your thoughts that set you from the rest. The way your smell burned me and the way your touch just about kills me; that definitely set you apart from the average girls. It was because you hated me that I felt attracted to you. And right now, you have never looked more normal."

Her eyebrows furrowed. "You mean you're not attracted to me anymore?"

"No! Not at all!" I drew her even closer, now that touching wasn't a problem anymore. "You're beautiful, inside, outside, and every way possible. I'm just glad your differences helped me notice you."

_He likes me, _she relaxed and leaned into my chest. "I'm glad too. Fairies and vampires usually try to kill each other. They don't exactly cuddle." _But I like the cuddling very much._

I loved Bella's mental commentary. She leaned in close. Without the necklace, her smell no longer gave me migraines. Now, she only smelt of that delicious sweet pea.

_I love you._

This time I did jump at her thought.

She scrunched her face together as she realized I just heard her thought. _Crap…_

"What was that?" I asked with a smile. I needed to hear her say it aloud.

"Nothing."

"Bella."

"Nothing!"

"Bella."

And before she could retort again, I closed the distance between us with a marvelous kiss, something I never thought I could do. As I hungrily kissed her and she whimpered in my arms, I just about melted. Please, oh, please never put that necklace on ever again. I pulled back slightly, not wanting to hurt her, but she pressed forward towards me. She really was stronger than the average human; her lips didn't mold into mine but held their own shape.

_Whoa._

I chuckled. "So, Bella, what was that again?"

She blinked three times before she remembered. "I love you," she whispered.

And I felt like the one flying. "So the lion fell in love with the bluebird."

"What an insane bluebird."

"What an over-confident lion. The bluebird could fly away any minute."

"I would never fly away from you. Ever."

I laid back, bring her down with me, and we just stayed, wrapped up in each other's arms. I was sparkling, she was amulet-less, and that was enough.


	11. a haon déag

stay right here, rocketeer  
><em>chapter eleven<em>

The car clunked its way back to Bella's house. After it was parked on the driveway, Bella turned off the ignition and cut to silence. No noise came from inside house. Charlie wasn't there.

"Thanks for taking me to the meadow today, Edward," she said, giving me a kiss on the cheek. "Thanks for listening. I guess I'll see you Monday." _Don't go. Come inside. Stay._

"Well, all you have to do is ask," I said with something that might have resembled a smug smile.

She frowned. "You know, I liked it better when you couldn't hear what I was thinking. Less embarrassing."

She reached for her necklace in her jacket pocket when I stopped her. "Alright, but then I can't kiss you. You're choice."

She frowned again. _But I want you to kiss me._

"That's what I thought."

Rolling her eyes, she got out of her truck and I followed. We didn't even bother to stop when we entered the house; she just led me straight up to her bedroom. The walls were painted yellow, but so many pictures were taped up that you could barely see it. There were paintings and sketches of luscious rolling hills, fairies, and some other thing.

"Is that the Otherworld?" I asked, pointing to a painting. It looked like a bright cave with flying fairies, a few elves, and some mermaids in the lagoon in the back. The main fairy had curly auburn hair, a light blue dress, and a tiara on her head.

"Yes. And that's Queen Titania."

"Titania? As in _Midsummer's Night Dream_?" I asked, incredulously.

"Shakespeare was one of the few mortals we trusted. Queen Titania gave him a silver bough to visit."

"But he wrote about the fairies in his play. Isn't that like revealing your secret?"

"Sometimes the best way to hide is to tell the truth. Think about it. Queen Titania and King Oberon were the most accurately portrayed fairies in literature, I think. Human sized, magical, and so much more than little sprites. And no one believed it."

"Titania is still alive today?"

"Queen Titania is. King Oberon, however, died in the last vampire siege twenty years ago. Of course, Tuatha dé Danann are a matrilineal, matriarchal civilization."

"So male fairies are not only ridiculed by society but also neglected politically too. Brutal."

When I turned around, Bella was sitting on her bed with her legs tucked underneath her. She had a pensive expression on her face. "Edward?"

"Yeah?"

_Promise to tell the truth?_

I couldn't think of anything that I couldn't flat out tell Bella, so I nodded.

"Jacob and the Quileute's. They really are werewolves, aren't they?"

I nodded again. "But it's not my secret to tell."

Bella groaned in frustration and collapsed backwards onto her bed. _Great. So I've found them, but how do I convince them to come help us? It's been thousands of years since the werewolves left the islands, what if they don't remember? And even if I did get them to agree to help, how would we get to Ireland? How would I even know where the Otherworld entrance is? I've never been there. They probably don't even know I exist. And I'm a half-fairy, what if—?_

"Whoa, slow down," I chuckled. "I'm sure if you just confront Billy and the elders, they'll help you. But hold on a second, if you did succeed in all of this, does that mean you'll be heading to the Otherworld?"

"I guess so. That's the only reason Renee was sent out, so in a sense that's the only reason I'm here. I have to finish her job."

"So you're just going to…leave?" It never occurred to me that Bella would eventually return to the Otherworld and away from me. It was her home, it was where she belonged. I was selfish for ever thinking otherwise.

"Well, I have to." _Oh, but I don't want to leave you. Shit, you heard that. And that. And this._

I laughed a little and moved to sit beside her on her bed. "I could visit, right?"

Her eyes brightened. "Of course! There might be some slight misunderstandings at first, but after I explain it, I'm sure everything will be fine. I'll give you an eternity supply of silver boughs so you can enter whenever you want." She conjured up a shiny, twisted branch and gave it to me, just to prove her point.

We continued making hypothetical plans about me going to Ireland and her returning to Forks, but inside, I knew this was all talk. It took nothing short of a month to convince Bella I was different from other vampires, and she was a halfy who grew up in Phoenix. The other fairies would never understand. As Bella and I continued to talk, I only grew sadder knowing our time, our beautiful time, was limited.

"Your father is about to come home," I announced. I could hear the jeep turning into the street a few blocks down. "He went fishing with his friends."

"Of course he did. More fish I have to invent a way to cook." _Charlie should really stop catching so much fish. He knows he's the only one eating it around here._

"Are you a vegetarian? A real one?" I asked.

"Huh?" _Oh! Edward is still here. Charlie will not like that. Where can he hide…where can he hide…? _"Uh, yeah, I'm a vegetarian. All fairies are vegetarians. We live off of nature, not the animals in it. Besides, we can communicate with animals, so it's difficult to eat them."

"You can talk to animals. Of course you can. Is there anything you can't do?"

She smiled. "I'm an all-around fairy, which means I have a little of every power. I can change the weather, talk to animals, cast charms, and control the elements. Earth is more my specialty, then fire, then air, and finally water. I always messed things up when Renee tried to teach me about commanding the water. That's why I said it reminded me of my failure. But the van incident must have sparked something since now I can control water much easier than before."

Charlie was getting closer and I headed towards the window.

"Stay!" Bella called out, then clamped her hand to her mouth in embarrassment.

I laughed. "I'd love to, but my car is still parked outside and we wouldn't want your father to start thinking."

_Can you drive home and then run back? _She couldn't help but think.

A thrill of excitement ran through me. "I'd love to."

* * *

><p>My family was waiting for me when I got home. The second I walked through the door, Alice pounded on me.<p>

"I saw a vision of Bella and you in the meadow, and then another one of your two driving home in her truck. How did I see her? What happened?"

"She took off her necklace," I explained. "Apparently, that's what was blocking off our powers. The stone acts like a shield. She took it off so that I could hear her thoughts and so that I wouldn't be in pain just sitting next to her."

_So the necklace can come off?_ Carlisle thought.

I turned harshly towards him. "Carlisle."

He looked down, ashamed. "Sorry, Edward."

"No, everyone needs to hear this," I said, facing my entire family. "Yes, Bella is a fairy. Yes, her necklace has the power to turn us all human. But the Danann Stone source is already depleted. If we use up Bella's, there might not be much left. Besides, she needs it for her powers. If we take it, it leaves her unprotected from the vampires that aren't necessarily as nice as us. We are _not _going to take it from her. We are _not _going to hurt her."

"We would never," they all reassured.

Scanning their minds, I knew Esme and Alice were genuinely honest and really wouldn't put Bella in danger. The others didn't want to hurt Bella, but still pine for the stone. That was okay for now. I was just afraid that the desire would become an obsession which would then not be okay. Obsessions are hard to break, especially if you're a vampire. Just ask Carlisle.

"Edward, you must know that none of us would harm her just for our personal gain. We're family. Don't you trust us?" Carlisle asked.

I used to.

"We don't want to hurt her to get the stone," he continued. "But if we help her, and somehow the stone is restored, it would be nice if we could have a share."

"That's a big _if_," I said coldly.

In all my years, I'd never really got into an argument with Carlisle before. He was my mentor, my teacher, my father. He was the wisest man I knew. So why was he holding onto a long-lost dream?

Everyone could sense the contempt in the air. They looked around, ensure of what to react. Finally Alice skipped to stand between Carlisle and I.

"Carlisle's right. We're family. So let's just all promise to forget about getting the stupid stone so Edward can relax and go back to Bella since we all know that's where he wants to be right now," she said. She beamed at me and I smiled back. When no one moved, she groaned and held up three fingers in a scout's pledge. "Fine, I'll start. I promise to not harm Bella or try to get her necklace."

"I promise, too." Esme smiled. She walked over and pulled me into an embrace. "I already think of her as family," she whispered, so only Alice and I could hear.

The three of us turned to the rest of the family expectantly. Slowly, Emmett walked over to our side after giving Rosalie a glance. _I already have Rose here and now. If I'm stuck a vampire for eternity, and I'm with her, could I really complain? _"Yeah, I promise. Besides, I don't think I want to go anywhere remotely near Bella. My nose is still slightly stinging from last weekend."

We all laughed. With each oath, I felt I could breathe more openly, like part of the weight was being lifted off my shoulder.

_But…to be able to grow old, rock my babies on the front porch, attend their school plays and soccer games…_ Rosalie thought. I frowned as the thoughts kept flashing through her mind. She wasn't going to give this up. _An opportunity to become human again doesn't just come and go. I might never have the chance again. I can't let it go so easily. I'm sorry, Edward. _

"I won't hurt her," she said at last, aloud now. "I promise I won't hurt her. But that's all I can promise right now."

Carlisle stepped beside Rosalie and put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm with Rosalie on this one."

I huffed in annoyance.

"…Jasper?" Alice called softly, as if she was afraid of his answer.

Jasper glanced at Alice, Emmett, Esme, and I. Then he looked at Carlisle and Rosalie. His mind was a jumbled mess. Memories of the Confederate Army, the newborn army, and finding Alice shuffled repeatedly as he stood in the middle, completely ambivalent. He was the newest vampire to join the coven and the newest to our vegetarianism. For a majority of his vampire existence, he was a monster. He hated himself and what he had become, hated what he did with Maria, and hated hurting innocent humans. The question is which overpowers which: the hatred for his life or the love for Alice.

_Well, if we all become human again, I can still be with Alice…_

And I knew we lost him.

He gave me an apologetic glance and backed up to stand at Rosalie's side. The two Hales never looked more alike. _I can't_, he thought,_ I just can't._

Just like that, the house was split. Right down the middle.

* * *

><p>Bella and Charlie were eating dinner when I got to their house. Without a noise, I climbed into her window and sat on the ground, resting against the wall under the windowsill. It would be a while before Bella excused herself to come back here, so I had time to think.<p>

How did this happen? How did one little half-fairy manage to fly her way into my life, into all our lives, and break the family?

It's not Bella's fault, although if I tell her what just happened back home, she would insist that it was. She didn't do anything wrong. She only showed my family and we didn't know each other as well as we thought. If one disagreement, like whether or not we were willing to put the entire Otherworld population in danger just so we could be human again, was enough to divide us, then who's to say we're compatible enough to even live in a coven?

We're different from other vampires, Bella said so herself. We're not savages, we're not monsters, and we're not evil. We may be heartless, soulless, and damned, but we _care_. At least, some of us do. If the Danann Stone gets broken or stolen any more, there might not be any left. That would leave the entire population of Tuatha dé Danann unprotected to humans and to vampires. How can Carlisle, Rosalie, and Jasper simply overlook that?

I slammed my fist to the floor in frustration and a picture frame from the bedside table beside me fell. I caught it before it crashed on the floor. Flipping it over, I saw that it was a photograph of young Bella with who I presume to be Renee, her mother. Now, I knew Bella looked different the first day she came to school, I just couldn't put my finger on how. Looking at Renee, a full fairy, I understood exactly why that was.

Renee's face held prominent, non-human features. Her skin was slightly golden and glowed, even in the photo. Her eyes, her smile, and her skin all radiated like she was a firefly. Her nose was sharp, her cheekbones high, three freckles adorned each eye just like Bella's, and her dainty chin made her face angular, yet beautiful. Upon close inspection, Renee seemed a normal human with normal facial parts, but together, there was something alien about it. In the picture, you can see the resemblance between Renee and Bella, Bella was just a toned-down version with Charlie's dark hair.

I set the picture frame back on the table. I noticed that her necklace was right there beside it. She was so trusting. The stone is right there, _right there_, so open for the taking. I inhaled deeply. No. _No. _

The sound of Bella's footsteps coming up the stairs was enough to shake the family conflict out of my head. It was amazing how she could do that to me. Grumbling something about "embarrassing" and "sex talk", she jumped onto her bed, face down on the pillows. She didn't even notice me.

After I silently stood up, I lay down next to her on her bed and wrapped my arm around her waist. Knowing she would shriek from the surprise, I wrapped my other arm around her head to cover her mouth. She scream of stifled fear and her body tense. I realized that was probably not the smartest idea in the world since covering her mouth and grabbing her body was the generic I'm-going-to-kidnap-and-murder-you move.

She took a breath and recognized the scent and the coldness of my body. _Wait, it's just Edward. _With a sigh, she relaxed into my arms and turned around to face me. "Please don't ever do that again," she pleaded. I could hear her heart beating frantically against her ribcage.

I nodded sheepishly and gave her a long kiss. I only pulled back I remembered that she did in fact need to breathe.

_What was that for? _She asked as she looked up at me. The room was dark and only the half-moon shined in through her window. Her eyes were wide, curious, and raw, and the moonlight accented her skin in just the right places. The tips of her ears peeked out from her cascade of hair.

_Edward?_

My eyes flickered again to her necklace on the desk then back to her. I saw my own troubled expression through her eyes.

_What's wrong?_

"I'll protect you, Bella," I said, running my hand through her hair. I'll protect her. I'll protect her from my own family, the very people that I love. I was convincing myself more than anything.

_What are you talking about, Edward?_

"Standing up to your enemies, now that's easy," I said. "But standing up to your friends, standing up to your family? That's difficult."

Of three things I was positively certain. First, Bella Swan was a fairy who just might be her people's last hope. Second, a part of Carlisle, Rosalie, and Jasper—and a miniscule part of myself, I'll admit that—wanted to steal the Danann Stone. And third…

Bella wrapped her tiny arms around me and nuzzled into my chest, not really comprehending my cryptic sentences and trying to comfort me anyway. I kissed her forehead.

…and third, I was in too deep to back out now.


	12. dó dhéag

stay right here, rocketeer  
><em>chapter twelve<em>

"You're going to bring her over today."

I had just pulled a fresh shirt over my head when Alice decidedly walked into my room and perched on the couch.

"I am?" I asked.

"Yes. You're going to bring her over and she's going to stay the entire day. It will finally give Esme and me an excuse to actually use that fabulous kitchen of ours. And, there's a storm coming tonight, so Bella will join us for baseball! It's going to be awesome."

I hesitated. I wasn't exactly thrilled about bringing Bella to our house at the moment. Not when it was a house divided, when Carlisle, Rosalie, and Jasper might very well take the opportunity to somehow seize the amulet.

"She won't be hurt," Alice said, reassuringly.

"But how do you know, Alice? Bella will be wearing her necklace when she's here, so how could you possibly see that she will be safe?"

"Well I can't see today, or anytime in the near future involving her. But I had this one vision this morning." I watched the vision play through her mind. It was Bella and me, sitting underneath a tree with falling leaves. We were laughing in the autumn air. The sun was shining and there wasn't a care in the world.

"In the vision, it's fall," Alice said, "which means you'll last."

"Your visions change," I argued back. See, I didn't want to get my hopes up. I couldn't afford to get my hopes up.

"Yeah," she agreed. _But only if you try to change them._

* * *

><p>I was ecstatic when Bella rejected my invitation to go hang out at La Casa de Cullen, perhaps a bit too ecstatic to the point of offensiveness. She was going to have a chat with the Quileute elders today and I wished her luck. Werewolves were pretty stubborn, let me tell you that.<p>

However, she would be back in time and she said she would love to join us for baseball. She even offered to remove her necklace so the others would have to suffer her stench, and I all but begged her to keep it on. Playing baseball with three vampires who have half the intention of stealing her amulet was already risky as it was, let's not top it off by leaving the coveted gem in plain sight and off its magical charm around her neck.

On the other hand, Alice and Esme were quite disappointed that their five-course Italian cuisine was to go to waste. Hey, I told them not to overdo it.

* * *

><p>When I drove back to Bella's house later that night, I immediately knew something was off. Charlie was awake and pacing downstairs. Bella must have put her necklace back on since I couldn't hear her thoughts. But as I got out and walked towards the door, I was hit by a gruesome smell. It was like Bella's yet different, but it stung just the same. It was a familiar smell too, yet I couldn't remember where it was from.<p>

I rang the doorbell and a weary Charlie Swan answered the door. He didn't seem surprised to see me. "Edward, I don't think this is a good time right now…"

Then I heard the voices. Bella was talking quickly, her words practically blurring together, but there was another voice, a deep husky voice that argued back. I sniffed the air and suddenly it occurred to me: _dog_.

"What is Jacob Black doing here?" I asked, more forcefully than intented. I had noticed the black car parked across the street but thought nothing of it until now.

"The better question is what are _you _doing here?" The voice came from behind Charlie. I peered through the small opening and saw Billy Black wheeling himself towards the door.

"I'm here to pick Bella up," I stated.

"You're not welcome here, Cullen."

"Bella invited me here."

"What are you, her boyfriend?"

"I am. Actually."

Billy's eyes widened, then narrowed to glare. Charlie still stood at the door, looking between us with uncertainty.

"You are not to lay a finger on Bella, or I swear," Billy started.

"I'm not interested in her amulet," I said. "I'm here to help her, just like you. I'm assuming she finally got through to you guys?"

"Of course. Legend always told of the magical one who would find us again. We were destined to help defend her people against the cold ones. Just like you."

I gently pushed the door and forced Charlie to back up and let me in. "Don't you know us enough to see that we're not like the cold ones in your legends?"

"Guys," Charlie interjected. "Enough."

I listened to Bella and Jacob's conversation upstairs. It didn't take long to find out that they were arguing about me.

"You can't trust them, Bella," Jacob was saying, "the sooner we leave for Ireland, the better. It's been years since the scouts were first sent out and we don't know what shape the Otherworld is in right now."

"You don't know the Cullens!" she argued. "You can't tell me who I can and cannot trust."

I briskly walked up the stairs, too fast for Billy or Charlie to stop me, and burst into Bella's room. The door slamming against the wall caused a poster to fall off. She and Jacob both turned to look at me.

"And _you_ have the guts to show up here," Jacob growled, stepping in front of Bella.

I stepped up to face him eye to eye. "I can do whatever I want to do."

"Jake, stop." Bella pulled Jacob back from me. She used her magic to put the poster back in place.

"It's a ploy, all of it," Jacob said, shaking his head at me. "The Cullens want to take your stone and this is all a trick to get it. Edward's going to get you when you're most vulnerable and then he'll snatch the amulet so his little family can be human again while you and your people are left with nothing."

"That's not true," I said. "Don't listen to him, Bella."

I think she really tried to not believe him. But when she looked up at my eyes, I could tell part of her was affected by Jacob's words. I reached for her hand and even though it hurt now that she was wearing the necklace again, I held on.

"Think about it. Haven't I had plenty of chances to take the necklace before?" I asked.

She nodded.

"And did I?"

She shook her head.

"That's got to count for something."

She remained silent, looking between Jacob and me. Finally, she looked down at our joined hands. "I'm burning you again."

I smiled. "That's got to count for something, too."

"Alright Cullen, why are you here?" Jacob asked, slightly annoyed. The feeling's mutual, bud.

"I'm here to take her to play baseball. Why are you here?"

"We figured out that the fairy stuff Bella told us wasn't a bunch of make-believe and Bella really isn't a loon, but that it's all real. I came to convince her to go to Ireland as soon as possible but for some reason,she's refusing. Something….or _someone _seems to be keeping her back."

I felt quite guilty then, not gonna lie. If Bella found the werewolves, which she did, then she really should be getting on the next plane to Dublin. Jacob was right. If the Otherworld was endangered enough to send out scouts twenty years ago, then it must be in even worse shape now, since none of the scouts have returned. I was criticizing Carlisle and the others for hurting the fairies and creatures, but here I was the most selfish of all, hindering the fairies' last scout.

"But surely it can wait after one baseball game," Bella pointed out.

"Getting to Ireland is not that simple," Jacob said. "We'd have to buy tickets, pack, and try to find some entrance you don't even know the location of. There really is no room for procrastination, you know."

"I can help with the tickets," I said.

"What?" Jacob asked. "Do you Cullens have a stash of air miles that you're not using or something?"

I shrugged. "Or a stash of money that we're not spending."

Jacob shook his head incredulously, muttering, "Rich kids."

"I don't want you spending money on me," Bella complained.

"Not just you, I'll be going as well," I said.

"You are?"

"Well, yeah. It's kind of sudden and I was thinking we'd at least finish the school year before you had to go back, but I can tell this is urgent. I want to stay positive; maybe the Otherworld will be in perfect health when you go there. Yet, at the same time, I'd hate to think that we're too late, that you're ancestral race could be gone, that you might be the last fairy alive."

She smiled, erring on the side of magnificent. "You'd be willing to come with me?"

Like she even had to ask. Like I wasn't willing to do any and everything for her.

* * *

><p>Much to Jacob and Billy's disapproval, I stole Bella away and drove her to the edge of the forest. We parked the car before I broke out into a sprint into the clearing and Bella flew, hot on my heels. When we entered the clearing, everyone else was already warming up and getting ready for the game. Even though they tried to hide it from me, Carlisle, Jasper, and Rosalie's eyes all went straight to Bella's necklace the second they saw her.<p>

Bella, oblivious to the three pairs of eyes looking at her with murderous desire, flew over to Alice. I tried to relax, have fun with the game, and convince myself one baseball game couldn't hurt.

Oh, but yes it could.

Alice suddenly stopped, her eyes glazed over, and she exhaled her breath quickly as if someone had punched her in the gut. In her vision, three vampires walked out of the forest into the clearing, this very clearing. All I could think of was Bella, Bella, Bella. The part of the clearing they should be entering from was the part direction behind the second base, over which Bella was currently flying, trying to catch a ball.

I sprinted towards her, leaped up, and tackled her to the ground, rolling over so that she didn't get hurt. Before I could explain, before any of them could even ask, I was back up and running until Bella and I stood with Esme.

"They're here," Alice whispered.

The rest of the family ran over to us as well. I felt so utterly stupid for bringing Bella here and endangering her very being. She was better off back home with Charlie or with Jacob.

"What's going on?" she asked, confusion and terror in her eyes.

"Nomad vampires. They heard us playing and are venturing over. Take off your necklace."

"…why?"

"If we're lucky, they won't catch your scent. With the necklace on, you're basically screaming to the world that a fairy is right here. And, if the vampires see the necklace, they'll know."

She hesitated. I could hear the footsteps of the three vampires approaching.

"Do you trust me?" I asked Bella urgently.

"Yes," she answered, barely a whisper.

"Then take off the necklace."

She finally unclasped the nonexistent hook and removed the necklace. I saw Carlisle's expression flicker for just a millisecond, but then he regained his composure and faced the approaching strangers. He's trying, I realized. Carlisle is really trying.

No sooner had Bella stuffed the chain into her jacket pocket, the three figures appeared through the fog. All three wore ragged clothing, the expected attire of nomads. There were two males and one female with wild red hair. They seemed civil enough at a first glance, but if ninety years has taught me anything, it's that first glances mean squat in the grand scheme of things.

"We heard you playing," the male in the front said. He was holding up the ball that Bella had been chasing before I knocked her to the ground. "Mind if we join?"

"You're welcome to," Carlisle said. His voice was perfectly complacent, no trace of distress could be detected. "It's a perfect storm."

"I'm Laurent, this is James and Victoria," Laurent introduced. He waited for Carlisle to do the same.

"Carlisle," he said, "and this is my family."

Bella leaned closer to me, in an attempt to blend. I searched the three's minds. So far, none of them have found Bella any different from the rest of us.

"Well then, which side should we go on?" Laurent asked with a wide smile.

"You guys can join my team out of the field. That should balance the teams out," Carlisle organized.

The male introduced as James held up his hand. "Could I pitch?"

Carlisle nodded. _Why not?_

Well, we saw why not a few seconds later. James caught the ball from Laurent and began walking to the pitcher's spot when he stopped, raised the ball, and sniffed it. I started to panic. Had Bella touched that ball yet? I don't think she did. Maybe her hair brushed it?

As if that weren't enough, the wind picked up again, blowing in the opposite direction. A gust came from behind and blew forward. Bella tugged her hat further down but the ends of her hair danced in the wind and her fragrance flew to the three vampires.

James deeply inhaled. _It smells so flowery. Like sweet pea._

I took a step in front of Bella. She clenched her necklace in her pocket.

"Edward, weren't you and Bella just leaving?" Esme said, softly to me. _Get Bella out of here. Now._

I nodded, played the part and said goodbye to everyone, including Laurent, James, and Victoria, and led Bella out of the clearing. Once we were hidden enough in the dense woods, I picked Bella up and ran until we were at the house.

"We should be a safe distance away now," I said, setting her on her feet again. "Put the necklace back on."

"Did they know?" Bella asked, placing her necklace back around her neck. "Did they know I was a fairy?"

"No, I don't think so." I strained to hear the conversation from the porch. When that proved too difficult, I focused on the thoughts instead. I'd grown familiar to my family's minds so it was relatively easy to follow the conversation.

"That girl that was just left," James was saying to Carlisle. "She smelled…interesting."

"Yes, Bella does have a unique smell," Carlisle said.

"It almost reminds me of…" James trialed off.

"Reminds you of what?"

"It almost reminds me of fairies."

I scratched my head sheepishly and turned to Bella again. "Never mind, maybe they do know after all..."

"Fairies?" Carlisle lied perfectly. "Come on, fairies don't exist."

Now both Laurent and Victoria joined the conversation curiously. "You've never seen a fairy before?" Victoria asked.

"No, never." That was actually the truth, for Carlisle had never seen a_ full_ fairy. "Have any of you guys?"

The rest of my family shook their heads no.

"It must be because you live a permanent settlement lifestyle," Victoria said in a slightly condescending tone. "If you wander like we do, you encounter some things."

"Wait, can you tell me more about these fairies?" Esme asked. Good Esme, let them tell us what they know.

"Well, they're actually human sized," Laurent began to describe. "They're really not that exciting except for the fact that they wear these necklaces with a red stone on it. That stone is really powerful. Legend has it that the stone can turn vampires back into humans."

"Really? A stone that can turn you human, such a thing actually exists?" Carlisle asked.

"That's up to what you believe. If it really does work, then anyone who's tried it would be human and wouldn't be around to tell the story."

"Didn't we bump into that group of vampires who were really into that stuff earlier?" Victoria pointed out. "They were talking about some big organized raid in Ireland."

I tensed. That didn't sound exactly like a party. Bella saw my change in stance and looked at me worriedly.

"Ireland?" Carlisle asked.

"Apparently that's where all the fairies live?" James said. "Anyway, this gang of American nomads was going around recruiting members to travel to Ireland together in time for the big raid. They even tried to talk us into it."

"How come you didn't join them?" Carlisle said.

"We don't actually believe in the stone's magical properties," Laurent explained. "Fairies definitely exist, we've encountered some. But I don't see how a little stone could be so powerful. Besides, when we stumbled across that fairy some years ago, we couldn't get the necklace off and touching the fairy caused our skins to burn. The fairy then started shooting fire at us so we left the thing alone."

"And when exactly is this raid in Ireland?"

"Why? Are you planning on joining?"

"We might," Carlisle said. _Edward, please listen. If the date is close, get Bella and the wolves on the next plane to Ireland. We'll try to catch you if we can._

"Oh, we met them a while ago," James said. "I think they were planning it…you know what, I think the date was March 17th, St. Patrick's Day."

March 17th. That's in two days.

Shit.

"Fly home," I said, grabbing Bella's hand and dragging her away.

"What?"

"Fly home, I'll run beside you."

"What's going on, Edward? Is it bad?"

"Fly home, tell Charlie you'll be away for a while, and then go get Jacob and the werewolves. We've got two days to save the Otherworld and it's half a world away."

* * *

><p><strong>post script: <strong>oh hey guys. haven't updated this story in a while...i apologize muchly. this chapter also wasn't that exciting of a welcome-back-to-this-hey-do-you-still-remember-lol chapter. i apologize again. stick with me here. i'll finish this, i promise.


	13. trí cinn déag

quick recap, because i suck and haven't updated in 4 months:  
>during the baseball game, bella and the others find out from james that there is a nomad vampire army forming to attack the otherworld and steal last remaining danann stone. bella is the last fairy alive in the outside world. she has succeeded in finding the werewolves, the fairies long-lost allies, so now they must return to the otherworld and save it. also, fairies can produce magical fires that can kill vampires. as long as they have the danann stone, fairies are immortal and powerful, but their one weakness is iron.<p>

* * *

><p><span>stay right here, rocketeer<span>  
><em>chapter thirteen<em>

After I helped Bella pack her bags in one minute flat, after we convinced Charlie that this was dangerous and no, he cannot come with us, we flew/ran back to my house. I packed another duffle bag full of my clothes in about 2.5 milliseconds and was on the computer, willing it to load. I quickly opened the airlines website and booked the next flight to Dublin. Around this time, the others came back from the forest and rushed in.

Before Carlisle could open his mouth to iterate the question "Did you hear everything?" I had already answered with "There's a plane leaving in a little over an hour."

"Everyone pack a bag," Carlisle directed. "We'll run to the airport in Seattle, then fly to Dublin. We'll figure out what to do from there. Bella, can you fly to Seattle?"

"Yes." Bella, if anything, looked slightly offended.

"Can you fly there quickly?"

"Quickly enough, yes."

"I don't want her flying by herself," I said. It seemed largely unsafe.

"Well you can't carry her," Carlisle said. "It would slow you down. Driving would be slower yet."

"I'll be fine," Bella reassured. She kissed my cheek, probably forgetting that she was wearing her necklace. My cheek seared in pain and I was momentarily impaired.

"I called the Reservation," Alice said, bounding to us with the home phone. "They'll be here soon."

Around us, everything was happening in a whirl. Everyone ran in every direction, packing everything in sight into bags of deceiving proportions. Wolves came hurtling through the forest and crash-landed on the Cullen's terrace. Carlisle tried repeatedly to contact the Irish coven. In all the rush, I looked at Bella.

"You guys shouldn't go," she said. "This could be very dangerous."

"That is precisely why we need to go."

"But I'll have the werewolves. This is our battle to fight. I don't want you to get hurt."

"I'm a vampire."

"_They're_ vampires too."

"Don't worry about us, Bella. Worry about yourself."

"I just…" A tear rolled down her eye, "I'm just flattered that you would all do this for me. I mean, I haven't known you for that long, I'm practically a stranger."

"But you're going to be staying for a long time," Alice jumped in. "And if we expect you in our future, then we need to do everything we can to keep you safe."

"But—"

"Bella, I am trained in combating vampires, as odd as that might sound," Jasper said. "You need me."

"Still, I can't—"

Emmett now came over. "You don't understand how boring life gets sometimes. There's going to be an epic vampire/werewolf/fairy showdown and you think I'm going to miss it?"

Bella laughed, but she didn't look convinced.

"We _want _to go," Rosalie said. She had her bag packed and over her shoulder. "Do you think any of us want to look into Edward's eyes for the next hundred years if he ever loses you? You're not exactly replaceable, Bella."

Everyone else had a bag as well. Outside, the wolves transformed back into humans and stepped through the door. Ready and eager, we all gathered around Bella.

She sighed. "Thank you. All of you."

Esme smiled. "We're all family. Families stick up for one another unconditionally."

Alice grinned. "To family." She put her hand in the middle of the circle, like we were all some junior high soccer team.

"To family," Emmett, Esme, and I said, putting out hands in as well.

With a shrug, Jacob put his hand in, followed shortly by Seth, Paul, Embry, and Quil. "To family."

Jasper added to the group. "To family." Rosalie reluctantly did the same, albeit with an exaggerated eye roll.

Sam and Carlisle, the last to join, stared at each other. Neither really wanted to commit. Carlisle still had his mind on the stone and Sam didn't trust him for that very reason. But slowly, both of them rested their hands in the growing pile. A truce, a compromise, an alliance—for now.

"To family."

Bella watched all of us, tears starting to fill her eyes. All she ever had was Renee and now that she's gone, Bella is stuck with her unintentionally absent father, never knowing the maternal side of her family back home. Maybe a family like this is all she ever needed.

"Aaaaaaand break!" Emmett roared, pushing all our hands upwards. "To Seattle!"

The werewolves cheered with Emmett while the rest of us laughed at their actions. Soon, everyone has dashed out the door, the vampires becoming blurs running through the forest, the werewolves howling and following close behind.

I picked up Bella's bag and hung it across my shoulder with my own.

"Which way is Seattle?" she asked, slightly embarssed.

I flipped all the light switches and the house returned to darkness. I pointed in the northeast direction. "Just follow me. Think you can keep up?" I asked.

She smiled sardonically. "I'll try."

And we took off with me sprinting through the trees and her flying straight overhead.

* * *

><p>The plane was already boarding when we stepped into the front entrance of the airport. But we made it on with time to spare. When the check-in lady "couldn't find" our "booked tickets", we just "talked" to her manager, and she let us on without any trouble. There weren't enough seats in the economy class, so Bella, Alice, Jasper and I got "promoted" to first class.<p>

The trip there was the strangest thing. The rest of first class was occupied by this group of Irishmen returning from a business trip in Seattle. They spoke to each other with such a thick accent, I couldn't decipher a single world. It got even stranger when one man was telling what I presumed to be a joke (a-man-walks-into-a-bar jokes would seem rather fitting for Irishmen, no?) and none of his colleagues said anything, as if anticipating the punchline. Then Bella, sitting beside me, randomly blurted out a foreign word and the entire jolly Irish crew burst out in deep-bellied laughter.

"Ya speak Gaelic?" the man telling the joke asked Bella. He spoke slower this time and I could make out his words.

"Yes," Bella answered. "My mom taught me."

And then Bella got wrapped in some conversation with the Irish businessmen about who-knows-what. When trying to understand their words proved pointless, I listened to the men's thoughts instead. That turned out to be just as confusing since their thoughts wandered from cats to bananas to Disneyland to the aurora borealis.

From behind me, Alice leaned over the back of my seat. "What are they talking about?"

"I have absolutely no idea." I turned to Jasper, "So what's the strategy planned?"

"There's so much we don't know. Where is this Otherworld? Are the fairies powerful? How powerful? What about the vampires? And these questions even Bella can't answer. So, not to sound pessimistic, but I think the only plan is to kill them before they kill you."

"The fairies do this weird fire thing that can kill vampires. If we just hold the vampires back, I'm sure it will be easy," I said.

"Yeah," Jasper nodded, "I mean, how many vampires could they possibly have recruited?"

* * *

><p>I was listening to my iPod, staring out the window at the night below. I think we were over New York City. The whole plane quieted down. Most of the passengers were asleep. Alice and Jasper were mumbling behind me. I heard Bella shift in her seat and then felt her head lean on my shoulder. Her arm snaked its way to wrap around my waist. She smiled and pretended to be asleep. I reached over and brushed the hair out of her face when I realized she was touching me and I wasn't in pain. I looked down and sure enough, she had taken off the necklace. After weeks of begging her to trust me, I think she trusts me too much now.<p>

"I could take this," I said, reaching into her pocket where her necklace was. "Right now."

"But you won't," she muttered, keeping her eyes closed.

"Jacob could be right. This could all be an elaborate plan to steal the Danann Stone right when you're least expecting it."

"But it's not."

"I could ditch you once we get to Dublin and leave you when you need us most."

She eyes fluttered open. "But you can't."

I sighed. She had a point there. I couldn't leave her if I tried.

"You excited about going home?" I asked.

"Home," she laughed dryly, "what is home?" _ Is it the place you're born? Is it the place you live? Is it the place your ancestors lie?_

"I think it's the place where you feel absolutely and undoubtedly safe," I said.

She clung on to me tighter. "Then my home is you."

* * *

><p>Carlisle had finally reached the Irish coven. He had a quick phone conversation with Liam and by the time we had gotten off the plane, Liam was already waiting for us outside, along with Siobhan and Maggie.<p>

"Carlisle!" Liam greeted. His accent was pretty thick too, although understandable, fortunately.

"So this is her?" Siobhan asked, pointing at Bella. "This is the little fairy?"

The three of them stared at Bella with interest, eyeing the necklace she wore.

"We're here to protect her and all the other fairies," I reminded.

_So there really is an Otherworld, _Maggie thought. I had met Maggie only once when Carlisle, Esme, and I took a little vacation to tour Europe. It was many years ago, back when our coven was just the three of us. When we visited Liam and his mate Siobhan, Maggie was just a newborn that they had recently found roaming the streets. They took her in. It was actually me who discovered Maggie's gift of being a walking lie-detector; Liam and Siobhan thought she was naturally untrusting and Maggie thought everyone was like her.

"Come, come." Liam guided all of us to three cars parked nearby. After we loaded all our bags, we piled into the cars. Bella and I sat in Maggie's car with Jacob and Seth. Let's just say the smell was quite spectacular, what with dog odor and fairy stench confined in a small hybrid vehicle. Maggie subtly lowered a window.

"So where is this Otherworld?" Maggie asked as she drove hectically through the Dublin streets. The plane was 12 hours long and it was already midday.

"I don't exactly know," Bella said. "I'm hoping my fairy instincts will help me."

"And does it really work? Your stone necklace thing?"

Bella hesitated. I knew she didn't think she could trust Maggie, a vampire she had only just met.

"You better tell her the truth," I said, "Maggie has the gift of knowing when you're lying."

Maggie gave a small chuckle. Jacob and Seth both raised their eyebrows. Bella sighed. "Yes, the stone really does have the power to turn vampires back into humans. That would explain the fairies' dropping population numbers."

"Have you ever been to the Otherworld?" Maggie asked.

"No," Bella answered sadly.

By then, we had pulled up in front of a vast, old fashioned mansion on the outskirts of town. Needless to say, the Irish coven lived extravagantly. Liam and Siobhan's car had already arrived and everyone else was already inside. As Jacob, Seth, and I opened the trunk to retrieve the bags, I saw Maggie lead Bella aside.

"I used to be obsessed with fairies when I was a little girl," Maggie whispered in a soft voice. A gentle breeze blew by, contrasting Bella's dark hair with Maggie's locks of bright red hair.

"Really?" Bella asked, clearly warming up to the vampire after discovering this common ground.

"Yes, my mother used to tell me stories about the Otherworld and how humans drove the fairies and other magical creatures underground. I mean, I thought it was all make-believe and magic, but…"

Bella smiled and listened to Maggie tell memories of her mother. When she caught me staring, she winked and focused back on Maggie.

"I know we just met and you probably don't trust me," Maggie was saying as I approached, "but do you think I could come along when you visit the Otherworld? I mean, I'll fight with you guys and everything if I have to. I just really want to see it with my own eyes."

"Of course you can come," Bella nodded eagerly. "Hopefully we can find the entrance before the vampire mob gets there. I would very much like a tour of the Otherworld as well."

We dropped off all our baggage at the mansion and regrouped to talk plans. It was agreed that the sooner we locate the Otherworld, the better. We didn't want to gamble the little time we had. When Maggie told Liam and Siobhan that she wanted to come along as well, Liam and Siobhan agreed and decided to join us too. Now we were a party of sixteen, setting out to roam the hills of Ireland in hopes of finding some magical, invisible entrance that no one in the group actually knows the exact location is.

It was even more impossible than it sounds.

"This could take days," Rosalie complained. "And it's not like we can split up to look in groups because Bella is the only fairy here. And even she doesn't know what we're looking for."

"I love your optimism, Rose," I said.

We followed Bella through the hills. She flew above us in a random, zig zag pattern and I prayed she knew what she was doing. After we ventured about ten miles from the mansion, Bella stopped and descended to meet us.

"Do you see this?" she cried. Her pendant was making a whirring noise and the gem was slightly glowing red. None of us knew what it signified, but it had to be a good sign, right?

From then on, Bella experimented and flew in various directions, following wherever the whirring and glowing increased. This continued for many more miles and we all followed helplessly.

About an hour later, the whirring was getting intense and to the point of extreme annoyance. The Danann Stone was now a brilliant ruby hue. We were just walking when Sam stopped in his tracks, then Jacob, and then all the other werewolves. Their expressions showed them all in deep concentration. They were listening.

"What's going on?" Emmett whispered.

Bella now whipped down and pointed urgently at a hill in the distance. "I think I found it!"

The werewolves must have felt some instinctive pull to their original homeland, centuries ago, for they transformed into werewolves and ran towards the hill. We all followed, relieved that the agony of blindly walking was over.

The hill looked nothing out of the ordinary. Grass and flowers covered it and one rock was protruding from the side. It looked like a nice, sturdy, solid hill with no holes or entrance anywhere. It was, frankly, just a hill.

"You sure this is the right one?" Siobhan asked.

Bella and the wolves turned to look at us funny. "You mean you can't see it?"

"See what?" we vampires all asked in unison.

"The entrance," Bella said, pointing at a blank side of the hill, "it's right there."

The vampires stared at the grassy hill. I looked into the thoughts of them. Yep, they were all seeing what I was seeing: absolutely nothing.

"Here, maybe the silver bough will help." Bella waved her fingers and a pile of shiny, silver boughs materialized in her hand. She handed one out to each vampire. The second I laid my fingers on it, I watched in amazement as the side of the hill dissolved and a slightly blurry image of a cave entrance appeared.

Bella looked at the hill in excitement. "Let's go."

One by one, we stepped through the magical entrance into the Otherworld.


	14. ceathair déag

stay right here, rocketeer  
><em>chapter fourteen<em>

The cave led to a long corridor with rock and dirt on all side. It seemed to be carved right out of the hollow of the hill. As the last of us stepped through the entrance, all our silver boughs dissolved into nothing and the hill magically sealed itself shut until we were all surrounded by darkness, inside the unassuming-looking hill.

The total darkness was unexpected and put everyone on edge, but just a second later, a bright, greenish light filled the corridor. Vampire and werewolf eyes easily adjusted to the dim light, but where was Bella? It took me a while, perhaps too long, to realize that the source of the light _was _Bella. Her whole body cast off a glow that lit the way.

_How does she do that? _Everyone was wondering.

"Come on, this way," Bella pointed ahead. As she floated down the twisting path, hovering a few inches off the ground, we all followed, feeling quite claustrophobic with so many bodies in such a tight space.

"Are you sure this is the right way to the Otherworld?" Rosalie asked, looking around in disgust. "I always imagined it prettier. It looks like no one has been through here in years."

"It's probably a safety precaution to ward off the vampires," Bella answered.

We continued down the corridor. It was evident that this was in fact an enchanted pathway, since if it really was inside the hill, by basic spatial reasoning, one could easily deduce that we would definitely have walked right through the hill and to the other side by now. But this winding tunnel seemed to go on for miles. As we rounded a sharp corner, the smell hit us so strong, all the vampires had to stumble backwards a bit while Bella and the werewolves carried on like nothing happened.

"Yeah, this is the right way alright," Emmett said, making the show to pinch his nose. "I smell magic and fairy sweat."

We walked a bit longer, but at a much slower pace. The other vampires were not yet used to the smell like I was and it was affecting their cerebellum. Liam, Siobhan, and Maggie especially were lagging behind and stumbling. If the smell was already so bad to me, imagine how awful it must be to those who had never encountered it before. A few more steps and Siobhan collapsed on the ground, cringing in pain. Bella had already wandered far ahead with the pack of wolves, unaware that we had fallen so behind.

"Bella!" I called. Now the smell was so strong, I felt a deep burning all the way to my lungs, flaming up with every shallow breath I took.

She quickly flew back with a concerned look on her face. "What happened?" she asked, pointing at Siobhan.

"The burning," I explained, since none of the other vampires seemed even capable of speech at the moment. How did vampires even break into the Otherworld to steal the Danann Stone? How could anyone bear this torture? "Can you do that spell again to ease the pain?" I asked.

"Of course." Bella landed on her feet, closed her eyes, and muttered the chant, "_Pian pian imigh sé_ _teacht chun solais_."

Immediately it felt like the blanket of burning was taken off and my mind cleared. There was still the dull pain in the background, but it was easier to ignore. Everyone else also seemed to gather their strength again. When Siobhan still looked rather faint, Jacob trotted over and let her ride on his back the rest of the way.

Refreshed and excited, we sped through the rest of the maze of the tunnel until we almost ran smack into a giant boulder. The round rock was jammed right into the corridor, just the right size to block it completely.

Sam and Paul went up to push the boulder out of the way, but it didn't budge. Then the rest of the werewolves, along with Emmett and me, joined yet the giant rock stayed firm. Jasper, Alice, Carlisle, and Liam piled up and we all heaved, yet it was pointless. No matter how hard we pushed, the boulder stayed exactly where it was. How heavy could that be that the force of all of us combined couldn't even move it?

Behind us, Bella was softly laughing at us. Maggie gave her a questioning glance, but Bella only shook her head and flew over to all of us gathered at the rock. She waved us aside and planted both feet firmly on the ground, a few feet away from the boulder. _"Carraig bogaim teacht chun solais."_

The insanely heavy boulder began to rumble. Under Bella's magic, it rolled to the left and melded into the side of the wall, leaving the open path where it had previously laid. Wide-eyed, we all stepped through and to our amazement, the boulder formed again from the wall and rolled back to block the path once more.

"Just another trap," Bella explained.

You've got to give it to the sidhe. They're damn creative.

We must have been getting closer, because the hallway was lit from a bigger glow than Bella. The Otherworld! Did we _finally _reach it?

We all sprinted around the final corner and there, in all its magnificence and utter glory, was the Otherworld.

It was like a massive underground cave, the ceiling too high to reach and the ground too low to see. The tunnel we had been traveling in was continuously winding down, which would explain why the Otherworld is an underground lair. And perhaps the most exquisite underground lair ever. Along the side of the cave walls were numerous doorways and windows, rooms and apartments for the fairies. Fairies big and small were hurrying about, flying in and out of the doors. Below, many other sidhe creatures were walking. The lowermost doors must lead to the homes of the elves and nymphs.

Farther beyond, there was what looked like a town square. Many sidhe were gathered there talking amongst one another. By the town square was the shore of a giant lagoon. The water was a clear sky blue and you could see mermaids swimming underneath. The Otherworld extended further beyond the lagoon, where a tall stalagmite-looking structure jutted out of the ground.

I looked at Bella and saw that she was also taking everything in. The whole place breathed of magic and people just like her. Entranced, she started to fly out lower to the ground when we heard a shout from above us.

"Hey!"

Looking up, we saw two male fairies descend upon us. They both wore a brown cloth shirt messily tied to the side with some pants made of a darker material. When they recognized that we were vampires, their eyes flared and flames shot out from their palms. Knowing full well what that flame was capable of, I opened my arms protectively in front of my family and pushed them back, farther into the tunnel we came from.

"No, no, no," Bella said, flying back to stand between the two fairies and us. "These are nice vampires."

"There are no nice vampires," the taller fairy said. He also had an Irish accent, but it sounded different.

"Go home, _a chail__í__n mo chro__í_," the shorter one said to Bella, "We'll take care of them."

_A chail__í__n mo chro__í_? Maggie thought, _That term is ancient._

"No listen!" Bella cried. "They're my friends. They've come to help us."

Now the two fairy guards clenched their fists to extinguish the fires, but stared inquisitively at Bella. "Who are you?" I saw their eyes focus in on her necklace. I noticed that they were not wearing any necklaces yet were perfectly able to fly and have magic.

"My name is Isabella Swan," she introduced. Then, probably after realizing those fairies wouldn't recognize her, she added, "I'm Renee's daughter."

At the name Renee, both the fairies gasped. "You're Princess _Renee's _daughter?"

"Princess?" Bella asked.

Then the taller fairy noticed the werewolves for the first time. He smacked the shorter one, "Look! She found the werewolves too!"

Bella looked confusedly at the two of them. "So…does that mean you believe me that these are nice vampires?"

"Ye, ye," the shorter fairy said. He had a bright smile on his face. Now, he smacked the taller one again. "Go get the Queen. Tell her the last princess has finally returned! Or, her daughter, at least."

The taller fairy did a flip in the air and zoomed towards that stalagmite-looking structure, evidently the castle.

"My name is Damien," the shorter fairy introduced, "follow me." He started to fly downwards to the ground and Bella followed. The rest of us stepped to the edge, peered down at the ground far below, and jumped.

Once we landed on the ground, all the sidhe began to notice us. Some looked at the wolves in interest or relief, but most stared at us vampires in utter fear. When a tiny fairy girl began crying, Alice walked over to calm her but that only scared the girl even more. I also noticed that I couldn't read any of their thoughts down here.

"It's alright everyone," Damien announced, "these are not the intruders, but they are friends of the werewolves. They are on our side. It's going to be fine. The lost princess has returned."

The crowd of sidhe seemed to relax a bit after Damien's speech. We were all still very puzzled about the princess remark. As we followed Damien to a spot by the lagoon, Bella skipped over to my side.

"Renee was a princess?" I asked her. "You never told me."

"Because she never told me," she said.

"But if she really is a princess, then that means you're a princess too," I reasoned.

"She is indeed." We looked up to see a beautiful fairy before us. She was dressed in a gorgeous white dress that sparkled magically. Her hair was light and in soft curls and a tiara atop. She smiled tenderly at Bella. It was the queen. No, it was more than the fairy queen, it was—

"Queen Titania," Bella said.

The other vampires gasped. The crowd of Sidhe had formed around us, intently watching the interaction between us and the regal queen.

Queen Titania reached out and gently touched the necklace Bella wore, then went to give Bella a hug. It was endearing and heartwarming, but what was going on?

"Your mother never told you, did she?" Queen Titania said softly.

"Told me what?" Bella asked.

"That you're a princess of the Otherworld."

Bella gazed at the queen in wonder. "Renee…was your daughter?"

The queen nodded. "She was my youngest." From behind the queen, a train of twenty fairies followed, all wearing marvelous dresses.

It was hard to think of Queen Titania as Bella's grandmother since Titania looked so young. Fairies don't age past adulthood, so Titania, along with most of the fairy population didn't look much older than Bella.

Then we heard it. It was a loud crack that came from the direction of the tunnel we entered. The cracks got louder and a continuous tapping followed. Footsteps.

"I don't mean to cut this reunion short," Damien said, "But we should really set up defense now."

Damien and the taller fairy and the entire fire brigade of guard fairies flew into position facing the tunnel. All the other sidhe gathered to the side, in a clearing by the lagoon.

In blur and not quite understanding the circumstances, the vampires and werewolves lined up behind the guard fairies.

"Isabella, would you join us?" one of the princesses said, beckoning her to stand last in line. "Only the royal family has all elemental powers," the princess explained, "so none of the others have the power to make fire."

The footsteps got louder and the riot of vampires thundered through the tunnel. We were so unbelievably fortunate to arrive before they did.

"So they want the stone?" I said.

"Yes," Queen Titania answered.

"And where exactly is the stone?"

"In the deepest part of the lagoon, guarded by the mermaids."

"Do those vampires know that?"

"Yes."

The vampires were coming fast. Somehow, they were not affected by the fairy smell like we had all been.

"How come none of you are wearing the necklace?" Bella asked.

"You don't need it when you're in the Otherworld," Queen Titania explained. "As long as the Danann Stone is in the lagoon and powering this place, we all have magic here."

"And none of us are wearing it because we can't afford to cut off bits of the Danann Stone anymore; it's too small as it is," the princess next to Bella added. "We haven't made a pendant in years. Yours could very well be the last Danann Stone pendant in existence. It could very well be the only other gem left besides the one in the lagoon."

"What about Scotland's Otherworld?" Bella asked.

"They're gone. Attacked by vampires."

The boulder that had puzzled us before now rolled out the tunnel and down into the valley. Some guard fairies quickly rushed and slowed the boulder with magic before it destroyed the town. I stared in disbelief. They had pushed the boulder all the way down here? All of us werewolves and vampires combined couldn't even get it to budge, how could these vampires move it without the aid of magic? Even the sum total of all the vampires' brute force couldn't possibly accomplish such a task.

Unless there were hundreds of them.

The first vampire showed himself in the tunnel. The guard fairies in front five rows ignited the fires in their palms. The werewolves crouched down and prepared to attack. Along with the other vampires, I growled, bared my teeth, and concentrated on the enemy. Behind us, the last row of defense, Queen Titania and the twenty-one fairy princesses ignited their fires as well. There were at least sixty of us, plus the elves and nymphs and other fairies behind us who would help as much as they could.

We could hold them off. Hopefully.

The first lead vampire jumped off the ledge and landed before us. His clothes were dirty and ragged. Two more vampires jumped off to join him. Then five more. Then ten more. And the vampires kept pouring in, each one messier and crazier than the previous. I saw that they exited the tunnel with some sort of cloth in their hands that blocked the smell of the fairies.

"We don't have to fight," the leader of the vampires spoke. Even as he spoke, more vampires entered through the tunnel. To say they outnumbered us would be a comical understatement. "You can give us the stone and we can go in peace."

Damien flew up to the vampire with defiance. "As nice as that offer sounds…" Then Damien shoved his palm into the vampire's face, the fire burning him as he screamed.

The vampires roared and charged forward. The waiting fairy guard flew up to meet them. Flying well over their heads, they sprayed fire all over the vampires. The burning vampires cried out, then collapsed onto the ground, wincing in pain. It was effective, probably killed off nine in ten vampires. But more vampires kept coming from the tunnel. And even if the fairy guard killed ninety percent, the ten percent remaining was still a significant, destructive amount.

When the vampires got through the guards, the next line of werewolves howled and ran forward. Tearing apart heads and limbs, the wolves demolished every vampire that they could reach. But there were only six werewolves and the odds were still nowhere close to being in our favor. Like levels in a filter, the next stream of vampires, escaping the fire and escaping the wolves, charged at us.

Together, all of us leaped to meet them, vampire on vampire. I could tell these vampires were starved and weakened, for their eyes were pitch black and hadn't hunted in weeks. They seemed focused on one thing alone, to get that stone in the waters of the lagoon, and didn't really mind about anything else. That made killing them really easy. But there were just too many of them. Even more vampires jumped past the fighting and reached the royalty, the last line of defense.

The princesses and the queen did everything they could think of. Some vampires were tied down by fiercely strong stems and branches. Some vampires were levitated into the air and trapped there. Some vampires were blown back, all the way to smack against the wall. I saw Bella hurling rapid fireballs at approaching vampires.

Finally, I saw the last vampire jump into the chaos from the tunnel above. At least there weren't any more. But there were already so, so many. Countless bodies of burnt vampires lay unmoving on the ground. Some fairies also lay dead, alongside the vampires.

As I ripped the head off of a black-haired vampire and tossed him at Damien to burn, a killed fairy was tossed in my direction. The fairy was part of the guard and had been thrown by the vampire who had killed him to discard. To my horror, I saw a blade sticking out from the dead fairy's stomach. I punched the vampire who was trying to sneak up behind me then bent down to pull the blade out of the fairy's body.

It was exactly what I feared. It was made of iron.

As three blond vampires ran at me, I grabbed a hold of all three of them and slammed them to the ground. Emmett, who had been battling two other vampire nearby, turned to me and stomped down hard on the three blond vampires' heads. A princess quickly flew over and set the decapitated bodies on fire. I looked at their belts and sure enough, all three were carrying some blade or knife made of iron. Inspecting the vampires at large, I saw that nearly all of them had iron in their possession; they just hadn't thought to use them yet.

We were doing good so far; the death ratio was in our favor at least. But there had to be another hundred vampires still alive and still fighting, even though hundreds more lay dead. The Otherworld, so vast, was literally filled with dead bodies.

"Find the fairy with the red jacket and boots," the leader vampire was saying to five other vampires. They were standing pretty far away. I growled and venom flowed as I saw Bella's face in his mind. "She has a stone necklace on. If we can't get the whole stone, get hers."

Taking vampires and flinging them hard across the town square, hoping someone else will kill them, I sprinted to find Bella. Where was she? She was just here fighting a second ago? Where did she fly off to? Oh god, please be okay. Please be okay.

When I couldn't find her anywhere, I looked upwards and there she was, flying up in the air with Damien and two other fairies as they aimed fire at vampires. Another wave of vampires charged at the lagoon and I was momentarily distracted as I grabbed the closest vampire and threw him at all the others. They all fell like bowling pins and Bella set them all on fire. As they shrieked, I grabbed Bella's arm. When she turned around, I saw that her necklace was gone.

"Where is it?" I cried.

Before she could answer, I punched the head off two vampires and she levitated a third. She then put all three of them on fire.

"I gave my necklace to Carlisle," she said.

"You WHAT?"

"Look out!"

I ducked, having been too caught up in the fact that Bella would give her Danann stone to Carlisle, the least trustworthy vampire of us all. The vampire behind me had been aiming for my head, so when I ducked, he missed and punched Bella instead.

She fell down to the ground in a hard thud.

Outraged, I spun around and smashed the vampire's head to pieces. When I turned back around, two vampires were already over the fallen Bella. She writhed under their hold on her arms and then two huge flames shot out of her hand to the two vampires. I quickly stepped in to swoop Bella into my arms and ran to a quiet, relatively hidden spot.

"Are you okay?" I asked urgently.

"I'll be fine," she said softly. "I'm so sorry."

"Why are you sorry?"

"I dragged your family and your friends here. And now they're out there risking their lives."

"No, shhh, don't say that! We already went over this, you didn't force us into anything. We want to help. And besides, look at how good everyone is doing."

We looked back out at the fighting. Emmett was singlehandedly beating four vampires to a pulp. Rosalie and Queen Titania had a tag team thing going on where she would punch or kick a vampire and then Queen Titania would set it to flames. Alice, being able to predict the vampires' movements, dodged every shot and went in for the kill when they least expected it. Jasper, the trained killing machine, went around slaying vampires two are a time, with two guard fairies following behind to burn the victims. Esme, Siobhan, and Jacob were defending the lagoon alongside the angry mermaids. Liam was combating one big vampire who was already half on fire. Carlisle was cornered by three vampires with wild hair but was holding up. Maggie somehow found her way to Damien and now the two were back to back, fighting a whole group of vampires circling around them.

"But why would you give the necklace to Carlisle?" I asked.

"He knew the vampires saw me with it on. He knew I would be the first to get killed if they saw it on me, so I took it off and gave it to him. He was trying to save me."

"No," I said, shaking my head. "He wants it for himself."

The elves had begun to throw rocks at the vampires nearby. While the rocks do nothing to harm the vampires, they do distract the vampires long enough for a wolf to kill them.

"I trust Carlisle," Bella whispered. "Even if you don't."

An unearthly shriek was heard. Bella and I turned around to see that it came from the lagoon. A group of eighteen vampires seized the lagoon at once. Esme, Siobhan, and Jacob were able to hold off eight, but the ten others jumped off into the lagoon.

The scream had come from the mermaids who were now battling the vampires under water. After the mermaids, the Danann Stone would be utterly unprotected and vulnerable. One, two, three wet vampires were tossed out of the water, and dealt with by Jacob. All the other fighting around the Otherworld seemed to lax as more eyes focused on the battle under water. When minutes passed and only two more vampires got tossed out, a bunch of fairies ran and jumped into the water. On closer inspection, I realized they weren't fairies at all, but selkies, transforming into seals the second they touched water. The lagoon was becoming a whirlpool as vampires fought mermaids and selkies. One more vampire got tossed out. But one mermaid also rose to the surface, her dark blood spreading throughout the water.

Esme gathered the poor mermaid and set on her the shore. Looking at Siobhan, Esme jumped in followed shortly by Siobhan. Another vampire tried to sneak in while everyone was captivated, but I stepped out and ripped his arm off, Bella set him on fire, the elves chucked rocks at him, and we went back to watching the scene in the water.

Four evil vampires remain in the water. We all watched intently when, finally, one rose from the water. Her dirty blonde hair was dripping down her face, her torn clothes soaked, but she had on a wicked smile. The vampire raised her hand and produced the Danann Stone, or what was left of it. The shiny gem was now only the size of a fist, and ragged on the edges from previous vampire thefts. The vampire tilted her head back and laughed.


	15. cúig déag

please pardon my two-year hiatus. i got a new laptop and forgot to transfer this file over (aka i kinda forgot about this story oops.) i think i was planning on rewriting the ending because i wasn't satisfied with it. and i'm still not satisfied with it, but i hate leaving works unfinished even more, so i'm just going to post what i originally wrote over 3 years ago. i only made minor edits, sorry if it's shitty lol.

truth be told, i'm disappointed that this fic ended up being the least successful, like the weird runt of all my writings. i thought it was pretty funny and an interesting retelling, but maybe the twilight wave has already died. in any case, this was fun to write and not everything can be a winner. runts need loving too.

* * *

><p><span>stay right here, rocketeer<span>  
><em>chapter fifteen<em>

At once, all fairies, vampires, and werewolves ran towards the Danann Stone thief. But the fairies stopped short. Without the Danann Stone in its proper pace in the lagoon, fairies had no source of power. And without any source of power, all the flying fairies fell to the ground, fire no longer shot out of their palms, and the nauseating scent ceased completely. Since all the fairies were now powerless, it was up to us two covens of vampires and a measly pack of werewolves against the ravenous hundred nomads.

Suddenly, too many vampires were upon me. I struggled against all of them and saw out of the corner of my eye Bella getting dragged away. I tried to push away from them but it was no use, there were too many vampires on me and I wasn't strong enough.

We were only the secondary help. We couldn't win this battle without the fairies.

And then, a last hope:

_Where's Bella? She has the necklace. If she puts the necklace in the lagoon, then the stone on the pendant will act as our power source and then we can fight again. _

Without the stone's protection, I could also hear all the fairies thoughts. I listened intently to Queen Titania's instructions. If I could get that pendant and then get it in the lagoon, we could stop the vampires. But how could I get the message across to Carlisle? How could I reach him in time when I couldn't even fight off these vampires on me right now?

"Let me see! Let me see!" A crowd of vampires was gathering around the woman who had retrieved the stone from the lagoon. They all called out like children to touch the stone, to see the stone, to taste the stone, to hold the stone. The woman just ignored all the imbeciles and made her way to the leader. She handed the stone to him gingerly, like it was exceptionally fragile.

The leader held the prized possession in his hands. He closed his eyes and smiled. _Yes, _he thought, _after all these years of searching, I finally found it. I finally have it. I can finally be human again. _

At that very moment, Seth ran up to the leader, snatched the Danann Stone right out of his hands, and ran. All the vampires chased after him as Seth ran criss-cross across the grounds and over all the dead.

"Get that DOG!"

All the other wolves jumped in to attack. I saw Jasper and Liam join in as well. The others, from what I could tell, were detained like me.

Then Seth ran in my direction, the stone clenched in his mouth. Immediately, all the vampires on top of me pounced on Seth instead, thereby freeing me. Just before all the vampires tackled Seth, Jasper grabbed the stone from him and ran in the opposite direction. The vampires, once more, got up and started to chase.

See, it was no longer a war. It was a game of keep-away.

When Jasper could no longer outrun the hoard of vampires, he threw it to Rosalie. Rosalie managed to lead the vampires in a pointless chase while the rest of us took out as many vampires as we could. Then she passed the stone to Sam. Sam ran just a few steps before the leader of the vampires stabbed him with his iron blade. Iron didn't have the same effect on werewolves, but it was enough to bring Sam to his knees and the vampire effectively reclaimed the stone.

There were bodies everywhere, dead, alive, or just barely. Another vampire jumped on me and god, there was just so many of them. Carlisle was nowhere in sight. It was hopeless. We were done.

_Cling!_

And then time stopped.

The tiny noise echoed throughout the cave, effectively silencing the loud commotion. Enemy on enemy, friends helping the fallen, every pair of eyes were attracted to the flying object making its way through the air.

Shaking free of the nomads on me, I sneaked a glance at Bella for a millisecond. She was on her knees, held down by three beastly vampires while the a fourth stood in front of her with a death grip neck ready to decapitate. My eyes moved over to Alice, about ten feet away from Bella, who had amazingly shaken off the two vampires on her and was now sprinting towards Bella. Rosalie, Emmett, and Jacob were outnumbered against five bulky vampires, but the fight was delayed as every one of them stared unblinkingly at the flying object. Jasper and Esme threw a vampire into a growing pit of magical fire.

Finally, I caught sight of Carlisle. He was off to the side, standing above a mess of vampire limbs, and his arm was still extended from throwing Bella's pendant. Queen Titania's instructions came to mind: if we get the amulet into the lagoon, there might still be a chance. And a chance is all we have to hang onto now.

The pendant must have bounced off a stalagmite, causing the ringing _cling!_

_Get it, Edward! _Carlisle shouted in his mind.

Swiftly punching the crazy vampire who had latched onto my arm, I jumped into the air, angled to intercept the flying necklace. Hundreds of eyes followed me as everything moved in slow motion. I finally wrapped my fingers around the pendant and landed on the ground. The gem glowed a brilliant red, intact and perfect on the pendant.

_I'm sorry about before_, Carlisle quickly apologized. _I hope I haven't let you down._

"Bring it here! Come on!"the mermaids were shrieking. The pond was only a few feet away, three steps and I could hand the gem to them and then they could swim it down the waters. It was that easy. I was already there.

_Don't do it! _A sharp voice stopped me, so clear that I swore it was spoken aloud. _Think about what you are doing._

I turned around to face the crowd. Vampires, werewolves, fairies, elves, and dwarves alike began to chase after me.

"Stop!" I shouted. "Come one step closer and I'll give this to the mermaids."

That stopped the mob of angry vampires. The others, the people on my side, however, also slowed to a halt uncertainly.

_What are you doing? _Bella thought. _Why aren't you handing it to the mermaids? Why are you hesitating?_

I took a step towards the pool, but the voice again stopped me.

_You are throwing away a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, son, _he said. I scanned the crowd and found the vampire whose thoughts I heard. It was the vampire leader, an old vampire with wrinkles on his white skin, black hair bent every which way, ragged clothing like the rest of them. But he, unlike the others, looked wise. He knew I could hear his thoughts.

_Don't listen to him, Edward! _Alice's inner thoughts chirped in. _Give the pendant to the mermaids!_

_You could be human again, _the old vampire thought. _You don't have to be a monster anymore. That's what you want isn't it? All your life, that's what you've wanted._

I had thought I was so strong, so noble, for defending Bella against Carlisle. But when it came down to it, when it truly mattered, I was the weakest of all. For the temptation was just too strong and I found it impossible to let go.

_Edward. _Emmett's thoughts now. I stumbled back another half step. The mermaids and selkies stretched their arms frantically to reach the pendant in my hand.

The vampire leader frowned and took a half step forward._ Join us, Edward. We aren't evil. We don't want to kill fairies. We don't want to kill you. We just want to be human, we just want to breathe and listen to our heart beat once again. Is that so much to ask for?_

And I could. I could take this gem and run away right now. I could escape into the night and become human. Right now. And no one could stop me.

_You can even keep that gem on the amulet. The rest of us will share this stone. We can all become human tonight. Even your family. Just join us, _the vampire leader added.

I took a tiny step forward, away from the mermaids.

_That's it. Give it to me and all your dreams will come true. Dreams, that's another thing you'll get back. Don't you miss dreaming?_

I do. I miss everything so much. Being able to be around other people without the unyielding desire to kill, being able to eat, being able to live…

There were two ways to go here. I could turn back around, toss the gem to the fastest mermaid, and save the Otherworld. Or, I could join the other vampires in fulfilling the only desire any vampire has. Yes, it would ultimately kill every being in this world. But I would get to be human again. That certainly justified any selfish act. The vampires stared at me greedily. The fairies shook their heads in defeat. Alice glared.

I stepped forward.

_Edward, no. _It was Bella's inner voice that stopped me this time. She was still on her knees, staring at me helplessly. _Please, Edward. Don't do this. You're not one of them. You're better than that._

But am I?

All eyes were on me as I stood, straddling the fence, teetering towards the lagoon and then back again.

_You want that, don'tcha? _the leader thought, taunting me. _You want to be human._

I wanted that more than anything.

_And you'll do whatever it takes to get it._

Whatever it takes.

"Edward…please…" Bella pleaded. I turned to look at her. _For my people. For all those who just died._

Around her, all the remaining sidhe concurred with the same opinion. There really weren't that many left. The vampires were about thirty away from total Tuatha dé Danann genocide.

"Oh, so you like this one, huh?" The vampire leader, speaking aloud now, walked over to where Bella was sitting. The vampire behind her tightened the gasp on her arms. I tried to play indifferent, but the sharp intake of breath when I heard Bella moan in pain was enough for the clever vampire to figure me out. "A fairy. You fell in love with a fairy?"

_Toss the necklace! _The mermaids yelled.

The vampire withdrew his iron blade and held it dangerously close to Bella's neck. I willed someone, anyone, close to save her. Please.

"You toss that necklace the wrong direction and you say goodbye to her pretty face," he threatened.

_Don't listen to him, _Maggie warned. _He's bluffing. He's only testing you._

When I didn't move, the vampire relaxed and moved the blade further away. Bella breathed out in relief. She looked so pained, so helpless. My heart sang for her.

"Here, I'll make you a deal," he said, pacing back and force as everyone stopped and stared. "You hand me that pendant and no one else gets hurt. You and your family can join us as we use the stone. We can all become human. These fairies can keep on living, simply as mortals. And here's the best part…"

He walked back to Bella and made a motion to the big vampire holding her down. The big vampire reluctantly let go of her and she collapsed onto the ground. Her shoulders slouched and she took deep shaky breaths.

"…You get to be human and, without the stone, she becomes human too."

I didn't even have time to think about that. Now I wish he never planted that idea in my head.

"Isn't that what you want?" he said. "You can still be with her. You two can grow old together, get married, have children, and start a family. You won't have to hide from society. You'll be happy, joyful, and _normal_."

I stared at Bella as she looked back. I never wanted someone more than her.

_Edward, no…_

My eyes moved away from her emotion-filled eyes and skimmed the rest of my family. Jasper, Rosalie, and Carlisle. In the last few minutes of the chase, the two gems had passed through the three of them, the three skeptics, and they were able to make the right choice, even if it hurt. It ended up with me, and I'm now the one having a hell of a time doing the right thing.

_You're strong, _Jasper thought, _You can do it._

_The consequences are bigger than you, _Rosalie thought. _Do you know what you're doing?_

Carlisle stared at me with a stern face. _I was wrong, Edward. I was wrong to hold onto this dream. It's not right, taking away someone else's life so you could get yours back. Returning to humanity is not worth putting all these creatures in danger. You were right. I was selfish and foolish, remembering a fantasy back when I was just a lonely vampire. Being a vampire isn't all bad, you know. You just have to see the glass as half full sometimes. You're faster than anyone I know, you're wickedly talented, and if you hadn't been a vampire, if you really had died of the influenza all those years ago, you would never have met Bella. Having something so powerful in your hands can mess with your mind. Don't forget who you are. Remember which side you're fighting for._

Bella looked at me and her final thoughts settled my mind. My eyes snapped back to meet the vampire's.

"So, what's it going to be?"

My face twisted up for a grin. I've already decided.

At that moment, Alice's eyes glossed over and she had a vision. And it was all the reassurance I needed.

Taking one step faster than you could blink, I turned back and handed the pendant to the first mermaid reached. She immediately dived into the water and swam.

"NO!" the vampire yelled, for I had done the wrong thing.

The big vampire grabbed Bella again and the leader vampire took out his blade once more. I sprinted faster than I've ever ran before and tackled him to the ground. By then, the smell of fairies had returned and I knew the mermaids had delivered the stone to its rightful spot. Around me, the fairies all shot up to fly in the air and the vampires holding onto the elves and the nymphs let go as their hands burned from the touch.

The vampires backed away slowly, as we all cornered them. They were the ones outnumbered now. The tables have been turned and before the vampires could regroup and rethink, Alice had snatched the original Danann Stone back. Fear flashed through the nomad vampires' eyes.

"Go. And never come back," Queen Titania said.

And the vampires scattered like rats.

"Why didn't you let us kill them?" Paul complained after the wolves transformed back into human form.

Carlisle smiled sadly. "We are not like them."

Together, Queen Titania, Bella, and the three remaining princesses moved all the dead bodies in a heap and buried them. Looking around, I counted about twenty-four fairies, fifteen elves, nine mermaids, five selkies, and two nymphs. And for all we knew, they were the last sidhe alive.

We all cheered in celebration. The battle, as quickly as it started, was over! The Otherworld was saved, for the most part. All those who perished would be honored as martyrs, all those who remained will help reconstruct the land. It was only a matter of time.

Queen Titania flew to a spot a few feet away, bent down and retrieved her tiara that had fallen from her head.

"Thank you all, so much," she said, addressing us vampires and werewolves, "if it hadn't been for you, we would never have won this battle."

"I don't think you can hold off the vampires forever," Alice said, returning the stone to the queen. "They might be scared off for now, but they'll be back again eventually."

"And we'll be waiting for them."

I turned around to find Bella, only to see her trembling, clutching her right shoulder and wincing in pain.

"Bella?" I asked. She stumbled forward and nearly fell over if I hadn't caught her. "What's wrong?"

"It hurts," she mumbled. Her knees gave out completely and her body fell limp in my arms. I inspected her shoulder and found the smallest of cuts in the fabric of her jacket. Removing the material, I saw a tiny drop of blood and it rolled down her arm. "The blade…" she said, "he cut me with the blade."

The iron. When I went to tackle the vampire, he must have slipped and the weapon grazed Bella's skin. But even that microscopic cut was enough to do the damage. Her skin around the cut was turning a sickly green color and continuing to spread across her entire shoulder.

"It's iron," I said frantically to Queen Titania, "the vampire cut her with iron."

The queen, who had been caring for an elf with a bleeding head, immediately came over. "Oh dear."

Bella screamed out in pain and squeezed my arm, hard. I knelt to the ground and held her close. "What do we do?" I asked. "How do we help her?" It killed me to see her in so much pain.

"Quick, hold her arm so the iron poison doesn't spread." I did as Queen Titania instructed and clamped down on her arm while she pressed down on Bella's upper shoulder. The lower part of her arm and hands started to go white from the lack of blood but at least the green didn't spread

"But Queen Titania, what do we do with all the injuries?" a princess asked, gesturing to all the elves and fairies with wounds.

"I'm a doctor," Carlisle volunteered, "I can help."

"That would so appreciated, thank you," Queen Titania said, then turned her attention back to Bella. Alice, Jasper, Rosalie, and Maggie went to help some more injured sidhe.

"Bite her arm."

"What?" I exclaimed.

"We have to cut open Bella's arm," Queen Titania explained. "It's the only way to drain out all the iron. It was a small cut so the iron spread slowly. But the moment the iron reaches Bella's heart, she'll die. Hurry."

With no other choice, I brought my head down, opened my mouth, and made a long scrape down Bella's arm with my teeth. The warm blood spilled out her veins and down her arm. Fairy blood was way darker than the normal human's blood, also with a bluish tint. This must be why Bella didn't want to prick her finger for the test in Biology. If she had, someone was bound to notice her purple blood. The smell intoxicated me and burned my mouth. There was so much blood. How can you tell if it's iron contaminated or not? I couldn't smell a trace of iron when the awful smell of her blood was around.

"Almost there," Queen Titania said. Bella had already lost so much blood. Her eyes had shut and her face was drained of any color. As blood continued to pour out her arm, her breathing seemed to slow and her grip on my arm weaken.

"Are we killing her?" I cried, utterly desperate and helpless. Why is the queen still just watching the blood run, why isn't she doing anything?

"No, not quite." A huge puddle of purple blood had built up around Bella. It was creeping onto my jeans and soaking me, but my only concern was to see Bella open her eyes again. She had to. We didn't win the battle just to lose Bella.

Finally, after Bella had let go completely of my arm and seemed to fall unconscious, Titania let go of Bella's shoulder and I let go of her arm. She muttered a spell and Bella's arm resealed, just a slight scar showing where I ran my teeth through. I remained sitting in the pool of blood, holding onto Bella like she was a fragile doll.

Ten minutes and she still didn't wake up.

Fifteen minutes.

Forty minutes.

Finally, Titania knelt down, pressed her finger to Bella's nonexistent pulse, and looked at me with fretted eyebrows. "There's…there's one last thing we can try."

She held out the Danann Stone.

* * *

><p>I sat down at the breakfast table and excitedly turned to my family. "I had a very interesting dream last night. I was a vampire, can you believe it? We lived in this tiny town called Forks and I met this girl in school who turned out to be a fairy. Then we fell in love just the way they always do in those stories and movies. Then we had to embark on this journey to help protect the Otherworld from all these evil vampires. I mean, there were heads being smashed, fire was everywhere, and it was so intense."<p>

"Was I in it?" my little sister Alice asked eagerly.

"Yeah, you were, but it was so strange. Your hair was black and you were the same age as me since you went to high school too," I said.

Alice squealed, "See, mom? I _should _dye my hair black."

"You have your mother's beautiful hair," Carlisle said while reading the newspaper, "Why would you want to dye it?"

"It's, like, what all the cool seventh graders are doing these days," Emmett joked, mocking Alice. "So, man, what about me?"

"Well, you were you, just in vampire form," I said. "And Rosalie and Jasper were part of the family too. Only, somehow none of us were related. Mom and Dad were like super young and they adopted us all. So even though the Hales were part of the family, Emmett was still with Rosalie and, here's the weird part, _Alice was with Jasper_."

The whole table laughed and Alice scowled. "Ew! Why do I have to be with _Jasper_? He's such a freak."

"Don't give your sister ideas," Carlisle remarked. "I don't want Alice dating older boys."

I didn't really think my best friend wanted to date my little sister either.

"So then what happened?" Esme asked amusedly as she spread butter on her toast.

"We won and chased the vampires out of the Otherworld. But then the Bella fairy girl was injured by an iron blade and the queen said I had to save her by biting her arm open. There was blood everywhere."

"You know, dreams show us our true desires. Maybe you just want a girlfriend," Esme said.

I rolled my eyes at my psychiatrist mother. "A fairy girlfriend with purple blood?" Alice and Emmett laughed.

"Then what happened?" Alice asked. "Does Bella die?"

"I don't know. I woke up."

"I've got to hand it to you, that's pretty creative," Emmett commented.

Carlisle shook his head and drank his coffee. "No, I think Edward's just been playing too many video games."

* * *

><p>"We have a new student, class," the teacher announced. She then turned to new girl, "introduce yourself."<p>

I glanced at the girl and practically fell out of my chair.

"Um, hi," she said. "My name is Bella Swan."

A chorus of half-hearted "hi Bella"s floated throughout the room. She turned to the teacher. "Can I sit down now?"

"Don't you want to tell the students where you're from?"

"I'm from Forks. Haven't heard of it? Exactly."

_Forks. _I was legitimately concerned I was experiencing an aneurism.

The teacher smiled. "Go sit in that empty seat in the back, please."

She sat down at the desk next to mine and I forgot to breathe. I looked at her brown hair and knowing eyes peering at me with an unmistakable smile on her face. Deja vu was the understatement of the year.

It couldn't be her. I mean, it was just a dream. Just some spawn of my hours in front of the Xbox or some metaphorical outlet of inner emotions. It's not _real. _As if fairies and vampires actually exist. Sure it was interesting and sure, maybe I'll write a book on it one day, but that's all it is: fiction.

But then why was the girl of my dreams sitting down right next to me?

"Hi, Edward," she said.

I blanched. "How do you know my name?"

She shrugged, looking smug. "Lucky guess."

"Have I…have I seen you before?"

Her eyes showed disappointment for a second before a wide smile flashed across her face. "Why? Do I look familiar?"

I shook my head. Just a coincidence, I tell myself. Don't psyche yourself out, it's just a coincidence. Besides, she doesn't even have the necklace. And she's wearing her hair in a ponytail and her ears look perfectly normal.

But then I see the three freckles on the corner of her eyes, I see the way she bit her bottom lip, and I saw the faint, barely visible scar on her right arm. Right where I had bitten her in my dream.

"What happened?" I asked before I could stop myself. I reached out and touched the skin.

She only looked at my finger, then back up at me. _I think you know_ her eyes appeared to be saying.

I spent the whole class contemplating a reasonable explanation. My mind couldn't think of one. When the bell finally rang, I stood up and gathered my books. As I walked out the door, Bella was right behind me and she hurried to keep my stride.

We were about halfway down the hall when Bella stopped and turned to face me.

"Edward Cullen," she stated. "Do you remember me?"

"…Should I?"

Her face notably deflated. "You promised me you would."

Before I could respond, she grabbed my hand, shoved a small object inside, and stalked off to her next class. Utterly confused, I opened my hand to find a dark stone. Its color was almost black, but it still held a reddish tint when I held it in the light. As if it used to be a brilliant scarlet hue before…

It couldn't.

It _could_.

I stashed the used Danann Stone in my pocket and ran after Bella, skidding around the corner before I collided into her, sending both of us onto the floor in heap of flesh and bones and laughter and two very human beating hearts.


End file.
